There’s no end to the number of software tools designed to help organizations boost efficiency and achieve objectives. That’s a blessing because no matter the need, there’s likely a tool for it. But it’s a curse because you may have acquired so many tools that you’re facing serious IT security integration pitfalls.
Every software tool opens the organization up to more risk. Trying to identify anomalies and patch security vulnerabilities tool by tool is nearly impossible if you have dozens – or hundreds – of separate tools. And cybercriminals are right there, looking to take advantage of any weak point.
Few businesses can afford a tech outage from any cause – cyberattacks, ransomware demands, as well as equipment breakdowns, human error, and more. Taking a few proactive steps can now help protect your organization from a catastrophic disruption.
Here are four common IT security integration pitfalls and how you can sidestep your exposure.
1. Too Many Tools to Manage
Organizations often accumulate software tools on a piecemeal basis without an overall plan. Departments, teams, and locations often request certain software to solve their own business needs without considering what else is available or if that tool is the best. Before you know it, you may have multiple solutions for the same problem.
Start by creating an inventory of all the software your company has implemented over the years. Look for duplication and overlap. Keep the best one and eliminate the rest. And is every tool being used? Retire any tool that is out of date or otherwise unused.
2. Tools That Don’t Talk to One Another
It’s not just the number of software programs that can be problematic from a risk perspective. It’s also how easily you can understand the risks they pose.
Manually identifying and mitigating risks may be tolerable if you have only a few technology assets to manage. But as your organization and technology footprint grows, so does the time and effort needed to pull the information together – and any gaps become increasingly problematic.
Seemingly small individual risks can add up to something quite significant when aggregated – which is easily missed if you don’t have a comprehensive view. If you’re forced to examine the security strength of each tool separately, you’re also potentially wasting dozens or hundreds of hours that could be put to better use.
Strengthen your defenses by automating the way you anticipate and address the risks of tech security failure. Look for ways to simplify control monitoring, automate data collection and analysis, and see a unified view of your security landscape.
3. Cumbersome Compliance Reporting
Regulators are constantly expanding the list of requirements that must be complied with. Strict data privacy rules, mandatory cybersecurity incident reporting, operational resilience standards, and now, AI usage restrictions are increasing the compliance burden, along with the consequences of failure. And those looking for third-party security certifications like SOC 1, SOC 2, and ISO 27001 may be under near constant security audits.
It can be an uphill battle if data must be pulled together from multiple systems and stakeholders. You may be spending hours – or even days – each week meeting your compliance obligations. And you still may miss something important.
Streamline and strengthen your process by mapping assets to risks and controls, as well as to regulatory standards and requirements. Adding automation will minimize costs, time involved, and the risk of fines and other penalties.
4. Ever-Expanding IT Risks
Cybercriminals keep ramping up the number of attacks and level of technical sophistication with the very same tech advancements you are using, exploiting vulnerabilities wherever they might find them. At the same time, employees, partners, suppliers, and contractors with system access can compromise security, whether intentionally or maliciously. The pressure to implement new tech faster than the competition also can lead some to cut corners on security governance, leaving you even more vulnerable.
Protecting the company’s digital assets under these pressures takes more than intrusion detection systems, vulnerability scanners, and firewalls. There are simply too many platforms, devices, people, and tools to manage.
Moving to a proactive, structured, comprehensive approach will help you quantify the potential financial cost and other impacts to prioritize high-risk areas. If an incident happens, you can respond quickly and appropriately, reducing the likelihood of technology disruption or security breach.
Having a big-picture view of technology risks – and hard evidence on the ROI – can also help you communicate with the board in terms that resonate, providing needed reassurance that the company is protected.
Exploit Technology Without Being Exploited
Technology is a double-edged sword. It expands knowledge, capacity, and performance. Yet the same technology can work against you in the hands of nefarious actors who want to take down your systems, steal your data, and wreak havoc on your business.
Guarding against these increasingly sophisticated threats takes more than cataloging security risks for each tool. A formalized, holistic view of risk will help you avoid IT integration security pitfalls, even as you bring on new technology to achieve your goals.
For more information about managing IT risk, download the ebook, Technology Risk Management: Detection to Protection, and check out Riskonnect’s IT risk management software.
