A 2024 report from ITRC shows a 72% rise in cyber-attacks since 2021. As technology advances, attackers and malicious users are developing newer ways to exploit security systems. Businesses and organizations can no longer maintain old security practices in defending their networks and infrastructure.
Data breaches pose a great deal of threats and risks to business continuity as reports show that the global average cost of a data breach is at an all-time high of $4.88 million.
Traditional security defense techniques mainly focused on defending against external threats using firewalls and antiviruses. However, the sophistication of modern cyberattacks now not only targets external vulnerabilities, with system weaknesses both outside and inside the networks getting exploited.
This article covers new methods and concepts for security implementation such as the Zero-Trust Architecture, Segmentation and micro-segmentation, Endpoint Detection and Response, and Cloud-based network security, and looks at how AI and machine learning can be applied to security.
THE EVOLUTION OF CYBER ATTACKS
Connecting to the world was made convenient and easy with the development of the technology. The Internet quickly became used in communication, healthcare, education, commerce, and business. With all this data moving around, cybercriminals began to exploit vulnerabilities and weaknesses for malicious uses.
In the early days of network defense, the focus was on protecting against attacks from external sources. Firewalls, Intrusion Prevention Systems, and routing protocols were used to detect and control network access.
Think about medieval times, when castles adopted perimeter defense techniques, where the castle represents your network and the moat is your security system. However, just like attackers could breach a castle’s defenses, modern attackers have found ways to exploit vulnerabilities within the network.
This defense technique was based on a flawed assumption that only external factors were responsible for security attacks. Through errors, wit, or brute force, attacks could be triggered from within your network. Employee negligence and the adoption of remote work are some examples of factors that could cause internal breaches. Verizon reports that over 35% of network breaches arise from internal risks.
Considering this, modern security strategies have shifted towards more complete, multi-layered approaches to protect from internal and external attacks alike. Let's look at a few of these strategies;
MODERN SECURITY STRATEGIES
1. ZERO-TRUST ARCHITECTURE (ZTA)
‘Never trust, always verify’. ZTA is a security model based on the principle that no user or device on the network should be trusted by default. Every request for access, regardless of the source must be verified, authenticated, and authorized before any connection is made. Every interaction, whether internal or external, is treated as potentially hostile. This model ensures that users only have access to the resources they need, greatly reducing the possibility of breaches.
Here we see a user who even after gaining access to the internal network, still has to go through separate authentication and verifications before accessing individual resources in the systems.
USE CASES:
ZTA is useful in securing remote workforces. With the shift to remote work, ensuring secure access to online resources over potentially unsecured networks is important. Even after remote connections are made through VPNs, the ZTA solution continuously verifies users in the network. Tools like multi-factor authentication (MFA), identity and access management (IAM), and individual device health checks are used to maximize security.
2. SECURE ACCESS SERVICE EDGE (SASE)
SASE is a cloud-native security model that combines wide-area networking (WAN) capabilities with network security. SASE combines network security services like Secure Web Gateways (SWG), Cloud-Access Service Broker (CASB), and Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) into a cloud-delivered service. It ensures that no matter where a user or data is located, the same security policies are applied.
USE CASES:
Every network connectivity needs security and protection and typically, these services will be provided through hardware like firewalls or routers at data centers. With the growth and widespread adoption of the internet, requiring each device to make these physical connections introduces lag and latency. This is where SASE comes in. SASE shifts security services from hardware to a cloud-native architecture distributing the capabilities across a global network of points of presence (PoPs). These PoPs are strategically placed close to end users and cloud services, allowing traffic to be secured closer to its origin or destination, significantly reducing latency.
3. ENDPOINT DETECTION AND RESPONSE (EDR)
“We suspect automated behavior on your account”. EDR monitors and analyzes activity on devices like laptops, phones, or servers to detect and respond to suspicious behavior. It focuses on preventing, detecting, and resolving security incidents at the endpoint level. EDR tools use machine learning and behavioral analysis to detect anomalies, automatically isolating compromised endpoints or sending alerts to IT teams for action.
If a particular device or user starts sending or receiving abnormal traffic, EDR tools flag that device and either isolate it or create alerts and notifications around it. This technology stops the spread of any breaches or infiltrations in the network.
USE CASES:
One user on a network opens a phishing mail and triggers the download and execution of ransomware. By continuously monitoring endpoints, EDR can detect abnormal activities and indicators of compromise. To avoid lateral spread throughout the network, EDR isolates this device. By cutting off network connectivity, EDR stops the ransomware from spreading to other systems and accessing shared resources, thus limiting the impact of the infection. After resolving security incidents, it is equally important to provide clarity on how they occurred to prevent them in the future.
4. SEGMENTATION AND MICRO-SEGMENTATION
Segmentation breaks a network into separate zones, with individual security controls and access policies. This prevents attackers from easily moving across the network if they breach one area. Microsegmentation takes segmentation to a more granular level by isolating individual applications or processes within a network. It creates fine-grained security boundaries, ensuring that even if one application is compromised, others remain unaffected.
USE CASES:
Quite simply, without segmentation, all users have unrestricted access to all parts of the network and so do attackers. With segmentation, access to data or resources is limited, and in the eventuality of a breach in one area, others remain isolated. Micro-segmentation takes this a step further and applies this separation on workload and container level. Traditional segmentation may be based on user IP addresses or MAC addresses and does not provide control over specific applications running in virtualized environments.
AI AND ML IN SECURITY
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are increasingly being used in advancing the security posture of modern security. The strengths of analytics in AI and machine learning are used in:
- Monitoring trends and traffic to identify anomalies and flag potential attacks
- Automated Incident Response with SOAR tools and platform for fast and targeted troubleshooting.
- Behavioral analysis of users to flag unusual access patterns. AI enhances UEBA by tracking behaviors in real-time
- Detecting phishing emails by analyzing subtle language patterns or context
CONCLUSION
Modern network security strategies have one thing in common - isolation. In our interconnected world, the key to security and a general best practice lies not in providing general permissions, access, or security policies but rather in introducing fine-grained control to users, policies, and permissions. The future of network security lies in precision. The less general the security rules, the more effective the protection.
Top comments (1)
🚀🚀🚀🚀