RSA Calls For Security Industry to Abandon Fear and Trepidation

Kicking off RSA® Conference Asia Pacific & Japan 2014 in the opening keynote, Art Coviello, Executive Vice President of EMC Corporation and Executive Chairman of RSA, The Security Division of EMC (NYSE: EMC), addressed the security implications of today's digitally interdependent world. With attendance doubled from last year, Coviello emphasized that society's digital interdependence now requires new "norms of behavior," more effective security measures and greater cooperation. Following Coviello's keynote, Amit Yoran, RSA's Senior Vice President, Unified Products, shared key insights for how to operationalize Intelligence Driven Security through a four-part Intelligence Driven Security "stack."

Coviello stressed that while driving advocacy for digital norms, organizations also must adapt to more effectively defend against the expanding attack surface and evolving threat environment exacerbated by digital interdependence. Coviello advanced recommendations for organizations to fortify their security measures across the three key areas -- visibility, analysis and action. Coviello explained the need for security organizations to develop deep visibility, beyond what traditional solutions currently deliver, to enable a better understanding into how information is being accessed and used, and to expose vulnerabilities across the enterprise. He underscored the urgency for more advanced analysis capabilities to decipher "patterns in the noise" to detect and ultimately thwart stealthy attacks. Finally, Coviello asserted that, together, deep visibility and advanced analysis enable security organizations to take the right actions needed to actively engage in faster, more seamless defensive measures.

Coviello also stressed the mandate for new levels of cooperation and information sharing among organizations and the unprecedented layers of protection that Intelligence Driven Security strategies can bring to organizations of every type and size.

"For too long, we have approached our interdependence with fear and trepidation," Coviello said. "We have viewed it as a threat to our organizations. The truth is anything but. If we begin to engage with and leverage our interdependence, a world of benefits opens up for us."

Amit Yoran detailed a model to aid organizations in operationalizing Intelligence Driven Security. Yoran explained that when Intelligence Driven Security technologies are embedded in an organization's security operations stack, unparalleled visibility results. Organizations are then equipped to better analyze the situation, spot anomalies and execute a plan to prevent or mitigate potential damage from cyber-attacks.

According to Yoran, the Intelligence Driven Security stack starts with policy-based authentication and identity management, access control, and governance. Yoran outlined a 10-step roadmap designed to help guide organizations to pursue the Intelligence Driven Security strategy required to defend against advanced cyber-attacks.

"Our adversaries will continue to adapt their attack methods, faster than our traditional methods can keep up," Yoran said. "We need to give up the losing battle and instead shift the rules of the game so we fight them on our own terms. We can fight them more effectively, and more importantly, we can win."