Cyber-attacks are becoming overwhelmingly sophisticated. From custom malware to zero-day exploits, advanced security threats are exploding worldwide. Beyond email and web-based threats, cybercriminals are exploiting vulnerabilities in the endpoints themselves. The question is no longer if you’ll be breached — but when. That means you need the ability to detect a breach or vulnerability in near real-time, and have an immediate incident response system that can deal with the threat in minutes before widespread damage can occur.

How can an organization stay ahead of these advanced threats? Maintaining a high level of security by consistently enforcing security policies and patch levels on endpoints and servers is a good start. But when networks can have up to 30 vulnerabilities per IP address at scan time (per IBM X-Force 2013 Mid-Year Trend and Risk Report), the slow process of mitigating and patching these weaknesses can result in dangerous security gaps.

Today’s IT personnel have to make difficult, risk-based decisions on where to focus their efforts—often without having a complete picture of the security environment. In addition to being able to find vulnerabilities, organizations need to be able to understand the network context of those vulnerabilities so they can direct their remediation efforts at the areas of greatest risk. Efforts to identify potential victims, deploy a range of attacks and exploit vulnerabilities are increasingly organized. What’s more, exploit kits are now made publicly available for use by other attackers within hours of a vulnerability disclosure, spawning a phenomenon known as “zero-day” attacks.

Enjoy this short video by IBM Films: Hacked!

To defend against security threats, organizations need an integrated way to identify and mitigate high-priority risks across an ever-changing IT environment. They need to:

  • Understand the up-to- the- minute status of diverse endpoints
  • View this endpoint information within the context of other vulnerability data
  • Prioritize which vulnerabilities should be addressed first
  • Take action quickly to remediate or mitigate endpoint vulnerabilities that have been prioritized as urgent
  • Confirm that the corrective action has been successfully completed

Our advice:

Learn how to combat advanced security threats by adopting an integrated, intelligent and automated approach to endpoint security. You can speed detection of attacks across thousands of heterogeneous endpoints—even employee-owned mobile devices—and correlate the vulnerabilities with other malicious network activity to proactively remediate high-priority risks. The key is in the integration of IBM® BigFix® with IBM QRadar® Security Intelligence Platform.

Flagship Solutions Group can help organizations bring endpoint intelligence into the “big picture” of security information and event management (SIEM). By combining BigFix with QRadar Security Intelligence Platform, organizations can be proactive about vulnerability management. They can identify weaknesses in systems, software or the network that attackers can exploit—and then remediate those vulnerabilities to prevent an attack or minimize the impact to the organization.

For more information on the strategic value of using IBM BigFix and IBM QRadar together to fight the latest modes of attack, contact Flagship at (561) 208-FYI1 (3941).

Stay connected online:

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Instagram