Most companies think that to improve their enterprise security, they have to invest in better technology and tools.
That conclusion is quite understandable: after all, cybersecurity relies on technological advances. To keep up with current trends, new is always better, right?
Except when your organization assumes that improving your security operations (SecOps) requires better tools, you can get stuck in a vicious cycle. In fact, chasing new technology may have the following opportunity costs:
- Money spent on licenses, installation, and maintenance.
- Time dedicated to training IT staff and phasing out current tools.
- No resources for other cybersecurity improvements.
Tools Won’t Improve Your Security Operations
The success of your cybersecurity efforts depends on a lot more than just the tools you use.
The way you combine those tools into a coherent security program and the workflows you implement to improve your overall security hygiene will matter a lot more than any individual tool. Especially when switching to Extended Detection and Response (XDR) threat management, you need to change your methodology before looking at new tools.
After all, if your company is out of money to invest in cybersecurity, your team won’t be able to detect or manage threats. Considering that security professionals spend an average of nearly $3 million a year on security engineering, the price of new tools won’t leave room in the budget for anything else.
Don’t let a new XDR partner convince you to switch over to brand-new technology and abandon your existing stack.
Instead, implement XDR into the system you already have.
Improve Methodology, Not Technology
Review your existing security tools.
Can you find any software that hasn’t been updated to the most recent version? If you are like most other modern businesses, you probably can. Take a second to update that tool, or make a note to do so later this week.
You have now saved your organization from hundreds of potential threats. Enterprises often lose track of their software, forgetting to patch up and update tools even when they expose significant vulnerabilities. In fact, 25% of all vulnerabilities exploited by attackers are at least 3 years old, despite most of them having available patches and fixes.
If you want to set your company’s cyber program apart, you just have to beat the industry average time to fix a known vulnerability, which is estimated to be 200 days according to AppSec Stats Flash.
When you focus on assessing and improving what you already have, you can easily:
- Save money by phasing out redundant tools and shelfware.
- Leverage your trusted technologies.
- Optimize your security operations to better mitigate threats.
Too Many Tools Cause Too Many Problems
Most security analysts are overwhelmed and IT budgets are stretched too thin.
Forget about chasing the new shiny technology on the market. Embrace XDR as a methodology and adapt your existing tools to better fit your business’s needs. Now, you can protect your business assets without spending a single extra cent.
If you are looking to better understand how you can improve your cyber maturity without extra tools, Pareto Cyber’s free risk assessment may be the solution for you. Get in touch with us today to learn more about our solutions and how they can benefit your business.
