The Security Snapshot: Are You “More” Normal?

The COVID-19 pandemic unequivocally changed how employers think the workforce could and should look like. As firms have been growing more acclimated to the “new normal,” insider threats, breaches, and employee unrest are on the rise. You need to know which security vendors fit your needs and which strategies to take. As we head into month seven of the pandemic and the final quarter of 2020, here’s a snapshot of Q3 security and risk analyst-authored research:

• With most knowledge workers still working at home, you must secure these remote end users as well as fix the anomalies in configuration. Learn how security pros should tackle these issues and their Zero Trust solution in general by reading Chase Cunningham’s “The Forrester Wave™: Zero Trust eXtended Ecosystem Platform Providers, Q3 2020.”
• In the revamp of the global, midsize, and European managed security services providers (MSSP) Wave evaluations, it was clear that innovating vendors are shifting their strategic focus to managed detection and response services. Read more about which providers are still at the top in Jeff Pollard and Claire O’Malley’s global and midsize MSSP Wave evaluations and Paul McKay’s European MSSP Wave.
• Firms need to adopt a Zero Trust (ZT) approach to prevent the detrimental consequences of a breach, and fortunately, it has become easier. A once disparate technology market, ZT solutions are becoming increasingly integrated. To understand the “state of” ZT threat prevention technologies, see the group-authored “The Forrester Tech Tide™: Zero Trust Threat Prevention, Q3 2020.”
• Learn how CIOs at firms in the advanced phase of cybersecurity and privacy continue to optimize their processes and maximize business performance in Merritt Maxim and Elsa Pikulik’s report, “Optimize Your Cybersecurity And Privacy Process To Maximize Business Success.”
• Firms are relying on third parties more than ever before to streamline business functions, increase focus on core competencies, accelerate innovation, and improve speed-to-market, yet mismanagement of your third parties welcomes exponentially more risks, whether it’s a minor inconvenience or a major disaster. To mitigate these issues and comply with regulatory bodies, third-party risk management (TPRM) platforms catalog, classify, and track all third-party relationships. To gain insight on the landscape of TPRM technology, see Alla Valente’s “Now Tech: Third-Party Risk Management Technology, Q3 2020.”
• The stakes of a hospital or other medical body suddenly shutting down access or control of a medical device are monumental. Chase Cunningham demonstrates the practical application of Zero Trust principles of visibility and analytics to a simulated hospital network to secure internet-of-things (IoT) devices in his latest report, “Video: Applying Zero Trust To IoT Environments.”
• The cliché “everything is not always as it seems” applies to business processes, as well. Renee Murphy highlights hidden risks in your processes by demonstrating how Amazon’s hilarious reviews disadvantage shoppers and Amazon alike and how recycling is not what you think in her report, “Video: Mitigate Process Weaponization Risk To Protect Your Customers.”
• The proliferation of remote and personally owned devices that are connecting to your work network during the pandemic amplifies the need for endpoint security. To gain insight on how to mitigate these issues, see Chris Sherman’s latest report, “Technology Best Practices To Protect Your Homeworkers’ Endpoints.”