intelligent

• Establish a view of your external attack surface : The first step to gaining true visibility over your organisation ’ s cybersecurity estate is transforming the unknown into the known , identifying what your attack surface looks like to an external threat actor . By adopting an external viewpoint , you can effectively assess your security landscape , identify gaps and determine the most susceptible areas for potential attacks .

• Conduct robust internal testing : Once you have a continuous , automated process for the discovery of the organisation ’ s systems and assets , the next step in the visibility journey is to start actively testing and validating . The aim of this process is to establish key strengths and weaknesses in the attack surface .

• Address and test critical cloud security issues : Cloud security posture management is crucial for any organisation operating in one or several cloud environments automating security and compliance validation across any cloud environment , from AWS , Azure and Google Cloud to Kubernetes . The process identifies , prioritises and remediates risks and provides complete coverage across vulnerabilities , malware , misconfigurations , lateral movement risks , weak and leaked passwords and overly permissive identities .

• Assure identity across the organisation : The cornerstone to securing an organisation ’ s IT environment , preventing intrusions and maintaining compliance is the management of identities including

users , devices and entities . Assuring identity involves a comprehensive assessment of the IT environment and a combination of tools , technologies and services designed to centralise controls , simplify management and increase the granularity of access permissions .

Taking control of the situation

The final and arguably most important step is in linking all these aspects together . Only then can effective controls be put in place to mitigate the dynamic nature of the cybersecurity risks facing modern businesses . Visibility is an on-going journey , no single tool , technology or process will deliver complete point-in-time visibility over this changing and often unpredictable IT security landscape .

Every set of processes and solutions must be tailored to the specific needs and structure of the organisation . Even the tools and technologies available to better protect organisations from cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving .

This framework offers a clear pathway to IT estate visibility , but this is only the start of the journey . Visibility leads to intelligence , which leads to control . The key to introducing effective controls lies in covering the basics and obtaining actionable intelligence . By laying a strong foundation through a comprehensive understanding of fundamental elements , we can implement controls that yield the desired outcomes . �

IMPROVING VISIBILITY IS NOT ABOUT SEEING MORE PROBLEMS THAT YOU CAN ’ T SOLVE BUT SOLVING PROBLEMS BEFORE YOU SEE THEM .