Implementing Vulnerability Management Programs

Prioritise Critical Areas

Go Beyond Compliance

Incorporate Operations

Developing your Vulnerability Management Programs

Identifying Threat Vectors is Essential

 

Most organisations have implemented a vulnerability program but it is fair to say it is underutilised.  The purpose of this post is to help you workout where you are with your vulnerability program and how you can improve it.

Remember, an organisation that can understand its vulnerabilities are in a better position to protect critical assets.

How often do you scan for Vulnerabilities?

Scanning for vulnerabilities is a good and important part of the process, but to make it work for you, you need to put in place workflows, processes, and analytics to manage the system and protect critical data.  If you are just scanning for vulnerabilities and patching once per week, well you need to up your game.

This is why;

As the infrastructure expands the more critical systems become exposed.  A “patch Wednesday” mentality is not adequate.

Start Prioritising

It is important that you start prioritising data in terms of importance and focus on protecting it.  You should consider implementing penetration testing on the assets that need the most protecting, and you should start to create metric reports.  Moreover, you need to analyse the reports and look for weak areas of your vulnerability management strategy.

Look Beyond Compliance

Once you have implemented good reporting systems and focused on mission critical data, the chances are you’re doing enough to meet compliance demands.  This should now be taken to the next level.  Think about a strategy and taking a risk based approach.  Identify areas which need improvement.  This will become increasingly important as the organisation grows.  The need to prioritise mission critical assets will increase.

Test each patch to try and expose vulnerabilities.  This will help you devise better patch updates and make you more aware of risks.

You may want to download fact sheets from the National Cyber Security Centre.  Click here.

Is your Organisation ready for the Robot Revolution?

Business Processes Already Benefiting from Artificial Intelligence

Countries Investing in the Viability of Robots Increases

Benefits from Artificial Intelligence is being Realised

Are you ready for the AI Storm in your Business?

Business intelligence is set to revolutionise business. Will you be ready?

 

A few years ago you probably would have laughed if someone said to you that software robots would be streamlining and handling your data.  If that same person then added that the robots would learn the business, influence decisions, and make businesses more agile, you would be within your rights to have them consigned to a mental hospital.

Come forward to the present day and that guy is being proved right.  Senior C-level executives, business decision makers, and technology experts believe that the age of artificial intelligence tools, which use big data, analytics, and are capable of learning how a business operates, will play a significant part in how organisations  extract value from business data.

If they are right, then businesses and organisations should be able to move a lot faster to meet the needs of their customers and clients.  They will be far more agile, and in theory should generate a lot more revenue.  And let’s not forget that machines tend to make fewer errors than their human counterparts.

A recent survey by Business Process Service Company Cognzant reveals that many believe this age is already with us.  Five hundred and forty seven respondents to a Cognzant survey believe they are automating around 25-40% of their business workflow.  Around half of the respondents believed that automation would enhance and improve their business.

Intelligent Process Automation (IPA)

This new form of workflow is more than just a belief in the business world.  The UK government has invested £327 million into the use of robotics and autonomous systems.  The chances are other countries will also invest in as the benefits become more pronounced.

Gajen Kandiah, executive Vice President of Cognizant said:  'The future of process work includes connecting skilled people to increasingly powerful technologies such as autonomic computing - including artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning - that can increase savings, enhance insights, and accelerate business. This shift is playing out in just about every industry.

 'Our new study findings show that this trend will only accelerate over coming years as business leaders seek agility, better customer understanding, and cost savings.'

With the possibilities of IPA, the future is exciting.  The question is however; will your organisation be ready to implement it?

 

How to Develop an Enterprise Data Strategy

Mine ‘Big Data’ Effectively and Efficiently

Appoint ‘Data Stewards’ to Manage Data

Develop your Business Strategy

Big data if mined correctly, can help better target your business strategy

Big Data Offers Opportunities

Despite ‘Big data’ being big news, and online material showcasing its advantages, most organisations are yet to develop a strategy to mine and analyse data.  The aim of this is post is to help you see the steps needed to develop a data strategy.  A good data strategy providing you act upon it will make your organisation more agile, increase revenue, and see business critical trends.

Your Data and Business Strategy

From the outset it is important you can see the link between your business strategy and the data you collect. Professionals in the field of data analysis often find that this is not always easy as businesses do not always have a defined strategy, or one that is immediately clear.

If your business does not have an immediately defined business strategy, it is a good idea to develop it.  This will make the link between your data and your strategy clearer.

Once this is complete it is time to link data to the business.  One approach is to take a forth coming project which spans the business.  This ensures that executives from every aspect of the organisation are involved.  Ideally, the project will either collate or draw on data in some way.  This makes data part of the project from day one.

Appoint Responsible People

To successfully glean information from your data, you will need to appoint people responsible for collecting it.  Business intelligence companies often refer to these people as ‘data stewards’.  They should be more business focused than IT focused as they will need to interpret the data they are collecting and quantify it.  Responsibilities for your data stewards will include:

• Collect relevant data
• Ensure compliance
• Define the management of data collected
• Correct data quality issues as they arise

To do it effectively, they have to have a good understanding of the business aspect they are collecting data for.  This will help them sort the wheat from the chaff, and as such, make the data useful and valuable to the business.

Making Sense of the Data

To make sense of the data, you need to determine what you want to find from the outset.  To that end it is a good idea to put together a team of people who can discuss what information you want to extract.  This could be fairly simple stuff at first, but as time goes on and your teams become more experienced, finding good quality trends will become a lot easier.

Overcoming Data Strategy Issues

Most business intelligence companies find there is often resistance when new data management policies come into play.  Mid-level managers and IT staff can often be resistant.  They often feel their territory is being impeded.  A good way to avoid these conflicts is to make them part of the process.  This not only gives them responsibilities, but it aligns your IT infrastructure with business goals.

Once you implement data strategy, you bring considerable benefits to the business.