What is a Consolidated Security Architecture?

Why is a consolidated cyber security architecture needed?

As the world becomes more connected and networks continue to evolve, securing IT environments has become increasingly complex. The latest generation of sophisticated cyber attacks spread quickly across all vectors and industries. over mobile, cloud and networks, and frequently bypass conventional defenses. To combat these attacks businesses deploy multiple point solutions, many of which focus on detecting and mitigating threats rather than preventing them before they breach enterprise networks. This reactive approach to cyber attacks is costly and ineffective, complicating security operations, and creating gaps in the security posture of an enterprise.

By embracing a consolidated architecture that enhances security coordination and effectiveness, organizations improve security and save budget used to integrate multiple, siloed solutions. A consolidated architecture will reduce operational overhead and more easily allow organizations to address many of the security challenges they face today.

Preventing known and zero-day threats in real time

Pre-emptive threat prevention technology is the key to a consolidated cyber security architecture that blocks sophisticated attacks before damage can be inflicted. An organization must be able to predict known and unknown threats to deliver consistent protection across the entire IT infrastructure.

Traditional cyber security vendors often claim that cyberattacks will happen, and that the best that can be done is detecting the attack once it has already breached the network, and respond as quickly as possible. However, there is another way.

Cyberattacks can be prevented, including zero-day attacks and unknown malware. With the right technologies in place, the majority of attacks, even the most advanced, can be prevented without disrupting the normal business flow.

Threat prevention is one of the major pillars of an enterprise-class consolidated security architecture.

Unified Management

A consolidated security architecture employs automated tools that augment response times. The volume of information due for analysis is vast, and without AI based tools, it is too vast for most teams to contend with. The majority of the data that exists in the world was created in the past few years, meaning that this problem of information overload is relatively new. When new challenges arise, the tools for resolving them must keep pace.

Another advantage of modern, automated threat intelligence includes the ability to rapidly process information from a variety of sources, simultaneously.

According to a Forrester survey of global decision makers, 54% of CISOs reported that their existing tech architecture is too complex to manage. With a high volume of security platforms, centralized management is essential. Rather than spending time untangling dozens of platforms, a centralized management system does the work for you.

For example, in an organization that relies on point solutions, two point solutions with overlapping functions may each recognize a threat, but classify it differently. Given the conflicting intelligence, security personnel will have to deliberate on what procedures to follow. Prolonging threat response times is known to increase chances of attack damage.

With a unified management approach to cyber security, you have reliable data points that enable you to take immediate action. Centralized management means less operational friction, and more time for higher-level priorities.

Automates security across all enforcement points

Using a dashboard to apply and monitor threat intelligence tools – such as automation, multiple feeds, and actionable insights – accelerates identification and remediation efforts. Threat intelligence tools can help you achieve more than you thought possible.

For better threat intelligence, deploy automated threat intelligence (TI). Rather than the haphazard compilation of insights at irregular intervals that you obtain through manual processes. Automated threat intelligence drives consistency, and lends a new level of maturity to your IT security architecture. With consistently monitored and measured security analytics, you can see threats before they lead to long-term consequences.

Unified threat management offers unparalleled benefits. For fast-paced organizations, powerful management tools simplify your day-to-day tasks, and help you get the most out of your resources.

Provides complete visibility into an organization’s threat posture

For the most expansive and in-depth security insights into your network, visibility via an easy-to-comprehend security dashboard is imperative. A good security dashboard will offer real-time event monitoring that gives you 360° visibility into your organization using a single, unified management console.

A security solution that provides clear insights enables you to effectively manage your risk and your time. When security products speak in different languages and report in different metrics, teams must devote extensive time to comparing trends. Piecing together disparate bits of information to identify suspicious activity is inefficient, and it can also result in missed clues. When security products cannot communicate with one another, clearly seeing the organization’s day-to-day security posture becomes nearly impossible, valuable talent is poorly managed, and security slips can occur.

Owning security products that cannot communicate with one another, and where metrics aren’t visible in a single location, may mean that your security team needs to manually enter data into different platforms. Not only does this create the monotonous task of rekeying information, it also exposes organizations to data entry errors. With an integrated, dashboard-based solution, data only needs to be entered once, cutting down on the risk of employee errors, which strengthens your cybersecurity posture.

Reduces TCO and increases operational efficiency

A consolidated security architecture reduces operational overhead and directly impacts man hours spent on securing an enterprise. There is a 50 percent reduction in staff when businesses employ a consolidated security architecture. That savings hinges on:

• Fewer products to deploy and manage – Infinity consolidates many security functions into a single system, which results in simpler architectures, fewer points of failure, and less risk associated with upgrades and patches. It also simplifies procurement and training.
• Single management and unified policy – Eliminates costs of deploying and maintaining parallel management infrastructures. Enables simple creation and deployment of a unified policy across the architecture.
• Threat response – A consolidated event viewer and cyber-attack dashboard reduces staff overhead for monitoring and incident response.
• Role delegation – Delegates policy management to relevant organizations, reducing unnecessary communication and coordination.
• Compliance – Compliance validation and audits for multiple standards such as GDPR, CPI, NIST become a simple and painless exercise. The security team uses a regulatory dashboard where compliance violations are flagged immediately, and recommended remediation actions are provided.
• Simplified integrations – A consolidated security architecture acts as a single integration point for infrastructure, reporting, and incident response. This enables integrations that are simpler, and therefore easier and less expensive to build and maintain. This also reduces friction with other departments, as it is much easier for the security team to support the security integrations necessary to protect the business.

In terms of direct ROI, statistics show that point solutions take an average of 40 days to identify attacks, costing organizations an average of $667,500 in remediation costs. In contrast, consolidated solutions identify attacks in an average of two days, with an average total cost of $6,800 in remediation. It goes without saying; a consolidated solution is the better deal.

Do you need a consolidated cyber security architecture? We can help

Check Point Infinity is the first modern, consolidated, cyber security architecture built to prevent sophisticated Fifth Generation attacks across networks, cloud deployments, endpoints, mobile and IoT devices. Check Point’s entire portfolio of security solutions can be managed through a single pane of glass and adheres to all seven Zero Trust principles. Check Point ThreatCloud AI, the world’s largest cyber threat intelligence database, leverages AI and powers the dozens of threat prevention engines employed by Infinity.

Learn more about Check Point Infinity.