Cyber security continues to be an ever-evolving challenge. While strides have been made in improving cyber security capabilities and awareness, the threat and sophistication of cyber attacks often keep threat actors a step ahead of these advancements. As the digital landscape continues to expand and new technologies emerge, so do potential vulnerabilities. Every organization, regardless of size, has operations, brand reputation, and revenue streams that could be at risk from a breach, making continuous, proactive efforts to manage vulnerabilities essential.
Today, the cyber security landscape is grappling with an increasingly complex digital ecosystem. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are becoming increasingly relevant to security platforms and offer promise in identifying new attacks, predicting threats, and enhancing cyber defenses. According to IDC, the AI in the cyber security market is growing at a CAGR of 23.6%, and is predicted to reach a market value of $46.3 billion in 2027.
However, advanced technology for cyber security is a double-edged sword. The same technologies that are driving positive outcomes for businesses can also be used by threat actors to find and exploit vulnerabilities in threat detection models, contributing to the growth and rising cost of cyber crime.
Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that the cost of cybercrime will reach $8 trillion in 2023 and grow to $10.5 trillion by 2025.
Open source poses its own challenges, as a recent report by Synopsys claims that at least one open source vulnerability was found in 84% of code bases in 2022, highlighting a significant cyber risk. Open source code constitutes a large portion of the code bases used today, comprising 73% of all code. Synopsis also pointed out that a staggering 91% of the code bases examined contained outdated versions of open source components, suggesting that updates or patches that were available had not been applied.
In the face of these challenges, there is no way to overstate the need for organizations to adopt robust vulnerability management programs to protect their assets, operations, and revenue.
The good news is there are more cyber security options than ever with vendors recognizing that businesses need protection.
Take the latest release from Sevco Security, the developer of cloud-native Continuous, Always-on Asset Security Monitoring (CAASM) platforms. Sevco has announced new capabilities for vulnerability hunting that will enable organizations to adopt full-scale vulnerability hunting programs, allowing them to continuously detect, assess, and address security risks associated with their information systems and security procedures.
Traditional vulnerability management activities tend to be narrowly focused, infrequent, and isolated. They are often associated with Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs), whereas unprotected devices, users, and misconfigurations present equally significant vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Comprehensive vulnerability management usually takes the form of a one-off or periodic security risk assessment that quickly becomes outdated. In addition, many legacy assessment tools fall short because they provide only a limited view of security risk and fail to enable analysts to search across asset classes for uncovering security risk vulnerabilities, according the Sevco.
To counter that, Sevco's new Asset Intelligence Platform says its new solution enhances current point-in-time practices, such as penetration testing, by providing a broad, continuous view of an organization's entire security landscape. As a primary solution for discovering and analyzing all assets, it bolsters existing vulnerability management and assessment programs.
“An organization-wide vulnerability management program is much more than just a security assessment, periodic penetration test, or patch management program,” said J.J. Guy, co-founder and CEO of Sevco Security. “The best approach for managing vulnerabilities is to employ a continuous and proactive process that regularly hunts for, prioritizes, and addresses security risks in your information system, system security procedures, and internal controls.”
Powering these capabilities is Sevco Security’s 4D Asset Intelligence Correlation Engine, which delivers a comprehensive understanding of organizations’ IT asset inventory across four dimensions: length, breadth, depth, and time. It supplies security teams with full context on managed and unmanaged assets (devices, users, applications) across IT, public/private cloud, IoT devices, operational technology (OT), supply chain, contractors, and remote users. This breadth of context is crucial for proactive vulnerability hunting.
For instance, the Sevco CAASM platform enables security teams to identify devices lacking patch management software or those not connected to handle a response effort during a zero-day threat. Additionally, Sevco delivers the context to proactively look for gaps in devices and systems missing security controls, such as Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and segmentation. It can also view the identity of the device owner to assess the risk level.
By providing an accurate, real-time IT asset inventory, and by enabling organizations to continuously hunt, assess, and track security risks across them all, Sevco's platform can help organizations proactively prioritize their response efforts.
In conclusion, as cyber threats continue to evolve and increase in sophistication, organizations need to adopt robust, comprehensive, and proactive vulnerability management programs. By leveraging advanced platforms like Sevco's, organizations can better manage their security risks and protect their assets and operations against the evolving threats of the digital landscape.
Edited by
Erik Linask
