1E - The Endpoint is Personal

  • What we do
  • Products
    • Products Overview
    • Windows Servicing Suite
    • Windows Servicing Assistant
    • Application Migration
    • Nomad
    • Shopping
    • Tachyon
    • AppClarity
    • NightWatchman
  • Products

    Windows Servicing Suite

    Complete Windows Automation

    End-to-end automation of all Windows servicing scenarios, independent of user location.

    Tachyon

    Real-time Remediation

    Remediate security and operations issues in real time across millions of end-points.

    Windows Servicing Assistant

    On-demand automation

    Nomad

    Windows Software Deployment

    AppClarity

    Software Asset Management

    Application Migration

    Automated Application Migration

    Shopping

    Enterprise App Store

    NightWatchman

    PC Power Management

  • Resources

    Resource Center

    This is where we let our success stories speak for themselves.
    All Resources

    Free Tools

    Tools to simplify the daily life of the ConfigMgr Administrator.

    Resources by product

     Windows Servicing Suite
     Tachyon
     Nomad
     AppClarity
     NightWatchman
     Shopping

    Resources by type

     On-demand Webinars
     Case Studies
     Reports
     Product Sheets
     Product Videos
     White Papers
  • Resources
    • Resource Center
    • Resources by Product
      • Appclarity Resources
      • Nomad Resources
      • NightWatchman Resources
      • Shopping Resources
      • Tachyon Resources
      • Windows Servicing Suite Resources
    • Resources by Type
      • On-demand Webinars
      • Case Studies
      • Customer Snapshots
      • Customer Videos
      • Product Sheets
      • Product Videos
      • Reports
      • White Papers
    • Free Tools
      • External Tools
  • Customers
  • Partners
  • Blog
  • About
    • Company Overview
    • Services
      • Consulting
      • Training
      • Support
      • Ask SAM
    • Events
    • Awards
    • Articles
    • Press Releases
    • Careers
    • Charity Work
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Blogs
  • 1E News & Community
  • Exploring the top four most effective cyber security strategies – Part 1
 

Exploring the top four most effective cyber security strategies – Part 1

by Andrew Robertson / Tuesday, 09 April 2013 / Published in 1E News & Community, Security, Software Lifecycle Automation

Initiatives such as the SANS Consensus Audit Guidelines and the UK CPNI Top 20 Critical Security Controls have attempted to standardize IT and cyber security efforts around twenty strategies proven to mitigate the most common and damaging types of attack. These represent a significant improvement over previous attempts but there remain challenges around adoption and prioritization.

In November 2012 the Australian Department of Defence published a paper in which they stated “At least 85% of the intrusions that DSD responded to in 2011 involved adversaries using unsophisticated techniques that would have been mitigated by implementing the top four mitigation strategies as a package.” This is a significant discovery since it narrows the focus from 20 required mitigation strategies for cyber security to just four:

  1. Application whitelisting
  2. Effective OS patching
  3. Effective application updates
  4. Restricting of administrative privileges

For more background on this DoD paper I encourage you to read my USA Today article Four simple steps to protect the US from hackers.

Digging deeper

I’ll be exploring the four mitigations in a two-part article and explaining how they combine to form an effective cyber security defence strategy. I’ll start in this article with Application Whitelisting.

1. Application White-listing

An application white-list is a register of applications that are approved to run on a computer system. Unless an application is explicitly listed it will not be permitted to run. This is the opposite of a blacklist where all applications may run except for those explicitly listed.

Application white-listing greatly reduces the risk of malware and other unauthorized software by mandating that only approved applications will run. Implementing white-listing on personal computers and other vulnerable devices makes it difficult for malware to get a foothold within the organisations and greatly reduces its opportunity to spread. Enterprise system management frameworks such as Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager incorporate application white-listing capabilities as standard.

A frequent criticism of application white-listing is that it is inflexible for the end-user and places a significant management overhead on systems administrators. These issues can be mitigated by implementing white-listing in conjunction with an enterprise application store, such as 1E Shopping, for self-service software provisioning. Such a service empowers end-users to install corporate software when they need it and at a delivery time that suits them and in the process reduces management overhead.

In the next article I will be exploring how effective OS patching and application updates, along with restricted administrative privileges, are the key to good IT security (click here to read Part 2).

Tags: Active Efficiency, activeefficiency, IT Security, it system management, security, systems management
Andrew Robertson

About Andrew Robertson

Andrew Robertson is VP of Marketing at 1E.

  • Related Posts
  • More From Author
  • real-time remediation

    Real-time remediation

  • security

    4 Security tips that last

  • digital signatures

    Understanding Digital Signatures

  • #1EMVPchat: Things we learned

    #1EMVPchat: Things we learned

  • security patch cyber war

    Why the investment in Security Tools isn’t winning the cyber war

  • The anatomy of certificates

  • Why your password protection might not be as strong as you think

  • Speeding up Windows 10 rollouts

  • Microsoft Intune and the Cloud

  • 1E unveils Tachyon: a new paradigm in IT

    1E unveils Tachyon: a new paradigm in IT

  • Kent Agerlund Interview: Upgrading SCCM to the Latest Version

  • SaaS

    SAM and SaaS – what’s the relationship?

  • 1E_Christmas

    Happy holiday From 1E

  • Cheetah

    Migration to Windows 10 enterprise predicted to be the fastest ever

  • Risk iceberg

    Failing to invest in Software Asset Management is a risky business

  • video gallery

    Top 8 digital disruption videos

  • video_exclusive

    Digital Disruption and Software Lifecycle Automation: What’s the connection? (VIDEO)

  • lack of preparation

    How the IRS could have avoided its disastrous Windows Migration

  • wasted_money

    Unused Software: Can you put a figure on your software waste?

  • Digital disruption

    Digital Disruption: The Catchphrase You Cannot Ignore (VIDEO)

Browse by Category

  • 1E Customers
  • 1E News & Community
  • AppClarity
  • Events & Webinars
  • Free Tools
  • MVP Monday
  • NightWatchman
  • Nomad
  • SAM
  • SCCM
  • Security
  • Shopping
  • Social Campaigns
  • Software Lifecycle Automation
  • Tachyon
  • Windows Migration
  • Windows Servicing Suite

Related Posts

  • Real-time remediation

  • 4 Security tips that last

  • Understanding Digital Signatures

  • #1EMVPchat: Things we learned

  • Why the investment in Security Tools isn’t winning the cyber war

Meet Our Authors

Ed AldrichEd Aldrich
Paul ThomsenPaul Thomsen
Brent HunterBrent Hunter
Andrew RobertsonAndrew Robertson
Dave FullerDave Fuller
Peter BerukPeter Beruk

Subscribe to weekly blog updates

Get in Touch

Latest Insights

  • On-demand Webinar

    How many OS migrations can you do in a day?

  • Case Study

    Cherokee School District and WSS: Why Microsoft plus 1E is the right way to get to Windows 10

  • On-demand Webinar

    Real-time Incident Remediation – 1E & SANS

Subscribe to our weekly updates


  • Home
  • What we do
  • Products
  • Resources
  • Customers
  • Partners
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Support
  • Events
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • GET SOCIAL

Copyright © 1E 2018 All Rights Reserved | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Sitemap

GET IN
TOUCH
TOP
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are ok with it.OkRead more