Every time there’s bad news in the industry press, yet-another-breach of some kind, there’s panic in the boardrooms to find out “What is our exposure?”. This is one of the triggers for cybersecurity observability, but it’s not the only one.
When companies merge or acquire, CISOs and security teams face the daunting task of integrating disparate systems, each with its own security protocols and potential vulnerabilities.
For example, when Tech Giant A acquirs Startup B, they discover that Startup B’s legacy systems were riddled with unpatched vulnerabilities. Without proper cybersecurity observability, these weak points could have remained hidden, potentially compromising the entire organization.
Cybersecurity observability provides a comprehensive view of the newly combined infrastructure, helping identify and address security gaps before they can be exploited.
We've just acquired Acme Corp: how do we find out how many and what kind of the 8 classifications of IT assets we've acquired... and how are they managed and secured?
2. New CxO on Board
A new executive, particularly a CIO or CISO, brings fresh perspectives and often, a mandate for change. They need to quickly assess the current security posture and identify areas for improvement.
Consider the case of a newly appointed CISO at a major financial institution. Within weeks of starting, she leveraged cybersecurity observability tools to uncover critical blind spots in their network monitoring, leading to a complete overhaul of their security strategy.
Cybersecurity observability empowers new leaders with the insights they need to make informed decisions and drive meaningful change.
3. Security Breach
In the aftermath of a security breach, organizations scramble to understand what went wrong and how to prevent future incidents. This is where cybersecurity observability becomes invaluable.
Take the any high-profile breach in the recent press. Post-incident analysis always seems to reveal that observability “needs to be improved”.
That attack could have been detected and avoided/mitigated much earlier if you fix observability NOW.
What about a Red Team audit? It seems every black mark is because some obsolete device wasn’t secured, or some ephemeral instances spat out and then forgotten by a DevOpsDevOps is a partnership between software development and IT…CI/CDContinuous integration and continuous delivery/deployment, a… process weren’t tracked.
These gaps can be seen and filled to pass Red Team audits.
If a breach DOES happen, then cybersecurity observability has the IT/OT landscape-wide information to understand the breach’s full scope.
What Well, with tools like CAASMCyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) focuses on man…, there is continuous monitoring (queries) and actions (enforcements) required to prevent similar incidents in the future.
4. Tool Review, Replacement, or Addition
As your security stack evolves, whether through the addition of new tools or the replacement of existing ones, how do you stay sane and keep an accurate view of your IT/OT landscape?
When did Entropy and Chaos join the team?!
A global e-commerce company recently replaced their legacy SIEM with a next-gen solution. But it wasn’t a “big bang approach”. A CAASMCyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) focuses on man… tool like CAASMCyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) focuses on man… helped them ensure seamless integration, identify redundancies, and optimize their overall security operations.
Finally we have a unified view across all security tools and IT/OT — but, in a paradoxical way it’s simplifying things and limiting entropy and reducing chaos.
5. Failed Audit or Compliance Issues
Nothing highlights security gaps quite like a failed audit or compliance violation. These events often reveal inadequacies in monitoring and reporting capabilities.
Unfortunately, human nature tends to only act when faced with danger.
One healthcare provider faced significant fines due to HIPAA violations stemming from undetected data access issues. Implementing robust cybersecurity observability measures not only helped them rectify the immediate issues but also ensured ongoing compliance.
Cybersecurity observability provides the comprehensive monitoring and reporting needed to meet regulatory requirements and pass audits with flying colors.
Summary
Cybersecurity observability isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a must-have and we’ve been through five reasons.
Whether you’re navigating a merger, onboarding new leadership, recovering from a breach, evolving your tool stack, or striving for compliance, the visibility provided by cybersecurity observability is key to maintaining a strong security.
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