ChannelVision Jan-Feb 2017

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Malvertising is another emerging Mal-
ware type threatening global digital busi-
nesses. A large malvertising campaign was
recently executed generating malicious ads
to redirect visitors on legitimate websites
through a “gate” – a server that alone
isn’t harmful – and then to a landing page
where the Neutrino Exploit Kit attempted to
infect users with malware. This campaign
targeted organization websites across the
world and could have affected millions
of users. Ultimately, the attack was shut
down in a few weeks by Cisco’s Talos Intel-
ligence and Research Group and GoDaddy,
as many of the domains and servers had
been registered with them.
Proactive,Threat-centric,
Integrated
IT security today requires a different
approach than it did 15, 10 or even five
years ago. Stacking IT security products
from multiple vendors on top of legacy IT
isn’t effective at meeting modern security
needs. It creates complexity, lack of inte-
gration between solutions and siloed secu-
rity operations, all of which is dangerous in
a world where rapidly changing threats and
immediate response is critical.
Businesses should build a secure
environment that aligns with their digital
objectives and is capability of adapting
to evolving threats. This means thinking
about security as proactive rather than
reactive. IT leaders need technologies
that deliver foundational, end-to-end pro-
tection to support organizations before,
during and after an attack. Things such as
implementing an integrated architecture,
developing threat-management processes
with real-time monitoring, and managing
regulatory and industry compliance re-
quirements are important components to
creating secure digital platforms.
There are immediate steps businesses
can take to combat attackers. For instance,
it is critical for companies to improve their
ability to quickly patch published vulner-
abilities in software and systems. It sounds
simple, but accelerating time to patch (TTP)
is perhaps the most important thing compa-
nies can do to quickly boost security. Most
breaches today across public and private
sectors are the result of vulnerabilities that
haven’t been patched.
Whether it’s a small business in Can-
ada, a regional business in United States
or a global business in countries across
the world, security is critical to enabling
digital operations and services. As exec-
utives, IT departments and their partner
providers discuss the transformation of
business practices, it’s imperative that
security is a part of the discussion with
leadership at the highest level.
Implementing strong cybersecurity prac-
tices is necessary to take advantage of new
technologies and achieve growth. Embrac-
ing digital transformation is exciting, but
businesses must be strategic outlining their
own digital roadmaps. With digital, there is
no straight line to digital business success,
but every organization’s roadmap should
have security woven in throughout. o
Alison Gleeson is Cisco senior vice
president, Americas
Cyber Patrol
38 ChannelVision | January - February, 2017