5 Tools Every Enterprise Needs to have in their Super Hero Arsenal

Featured article by Harry Piccariello, CMO of GigaTrust

Wonder Woman drew in huge crowds, with movie goers eager to watch the unconquerable warrior stop countless threats with ease. For enterprises, their biggest villain is not Ares or Circe, but data breaches. Headline after headline scream of yet another security breach at a huge corporation, exposing millions of private records. Whether it is a result of phishing scams, data leakage or a failure to properly protect unstructured data, enterprises need to be prepared for any threat.While a firewall can provide a solid first-line of defense, it isn’t indestructible armor. Like Wonder Woman’s golden lasso that keeps opponents at bay, enterprises need a strong endpoint security solution to ensure their emails and documents are always safe from threats.

Companies that fail to proactively take the steps required to be compliant put their business at serious risk. Several recent studies have confirmed the rise in security and data breaches over the last few years. Two 2016 Ponemon Institute reports reveal current data breach costs and trends. The average cost of each lost or stolen record with sensitive and confidential information is $221 in the U.S and the average worldwide cost is $158 per record—a 29 percent increase since 2013. The probability for a company data breach involving 10,000 lost or stolen records is 26% – and numbers continue to skyrocket. Take John Podesta’s case for example, which opened the door to Podesta’s personal identifiable information (PII) and around 60,000 private emails. If this could happen to the author of a cybersecurity report,it can happen to any public or private organization—unless you’re protected.

Like Wonder Woman’s most feared villains that have threatened her over the decades, enterprises run into different scenarios that could harm their organizations. As the number of endpoints (mobile phones, tablets, etc.) continue to increase, this is even more vital.

To maximize their heroic powers,organizations must refine their endpoint security platforms.

Here are 5 examples of how Wonder Woman’s villains could have been defeated by modern security threats.

1. Monitoring ‘First Born’ at all times: When Wonder Woman’s villain, ‘First Born’ broke free of earth and built a new army to take down the mountain of the Gods, Wonder Woman had to act quickly to protect the innocent. Monitoring is a tactic that ensures safety within enterprises, by allowing them to identify threats in near real-time.

2. Utilizing Data Analytics to defeat Circe: Circe’s magic is just as capable of causing Wonder Woman mental harm as physical harm. Circe hits the core. With a vision to behind the scenes, data analytics has the power to stop harm by adding functionality. Every enterprise must be able to measure, audit and track secured content usage. Users should know what is being protected as well as where the content resides.

3. Automatic Protection needed for Doctor Psycho: Doctor Psycho is known as a skilled telepath who uses his abilities to torment those who stand in his way. By applying automatic protection, to mitigate problems before they interfere, all information is automatically secure to ensure an organization’s success and reputation.

4. Policy Management for Ares: Ares embodies all the negative aspects of conflict, as he proves to be dangerous through his shadowy manipulations and intricate plans. For organizations to ensure safety on any device, having policy-based management in place allows users to access where data is and how items are prioritized – leaving no room for manipulation.

5. Usage Rules for The Cheetah: Cheetah had an obsession with trying to steal Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth. To stop hackers from stealing our personal documents with policies and encryption, organizations must have visibility into document usage to spot suspicious behavior.

The world around us is constantly changing, and attackers are always finding new ways to cause havoc. If the movie Wonder Woman taught us anything, it’s that villains will continue to step in our way, even while we try our best to keep what’s important to us safe, including sensitive emails and documents. However, with the proper endpoint protection tools, you can spot and apprehend a dangerous villain before they cause harm.

Harry Piccariello joined GigaTrust in early 2007 and has responsibilities for corporate and product management and marketing, placement, pricing and promotion. Harry’s career as an information technologist spans more than 30 years of progressive and multifaceted experience pertaining to software products, application services, patents, international standards and specifications, and management consulting services supporting diverse international public and private organizations.