There are two new paradigms gaining momentum in enterprise environments:
- Assumption of breach
- Bring your own device
Assumption of breach is driven by the industry's over-emphasis on protection, versus detection and response. The harsh reality is an attacker will always be successful gaining access. The detection and response capabilities are historically anemic due to repeated under-investment. That's why you see so many intrusions reported and the attackers have been in place for months or years.
One of the natural results of assuming breach is to shift focus from protecting _devices_ to protecting _data_. An attacker can always land on the secretary's machine, but you can put additional layers of protection around the organization's critical data.
Bring your own device (BYOD) is a natural extension of assuming breach and shifting focus from data to devices, and aligns nicely with the user desires to use their iPads and smartphones. The result in these environments is the IT shop becomes more ISP and less Dell technical support.
Many industries are adopting the assumption of breach and inevitability of compromise. RSA Exec Chairman at the RSA Conf a couple weeks ago: "We need to acknowledge once and for all that our networks will be penetrated." BYOD is harder - popular for universities and hospitals with significant user mobility, less so for governments and financials with higher protection thresholds and more static environments.
In another five years, these ideas will be common practice for many industries. If you HN'ers have some crafty plans in the enterprise space, take note.
Comments
There are two new paradigms gaining momentum in enterprise environments:
Assumption of breach is driven by the industry's over-emphasis on protection, versus detection and response. The harsh reality is an attacker will always be successful gaining access. The detection and response capabilities are historically anemic due to repeated under-investment. That's why you see so many intrusions reported and the attackers have been in place for months or years.One of the natural results of assuming breach is to shift focus from protecting _devices_ to protecting _data_. An attacker can always land on the secretary's machine, but you can put additional layers of protection around the organization's critical data.
Bring your own device (BYOD) is a natural extension of assuming breach and shifting focus from data to devices, and aligns nicely with the user desires to use their iPads and smartphones. The result in these environments is the IT shop becomes more ISP and less Dell technical support.
Many industries are adopting the assumption of breach and inevitability of compromise. RSA Exec Chairman at the RSA Conf a couple weeks ago: "We need to acknowledge once and for all that our networks will be penetrated." BYOD is harder - popular for universities and hospitals with significant user mobility, less so for governments and financials with higher protection thresholds and more static environments.
In another five years, these ideas will be common practice for many industries. If you HN'ers have some crafty plans in the enterprise space, take note.