2013 CHECK POINT ANNUAL SECURITY REPORT
036
2,600 years later, the same approach perfectly describes
today’s fight against cyberwarfare as the best network
security is realized when all the different layers of
protection are harmonized to fight against all different
angles of security threats.
This report covered multiple aspects of security risks that
Check Point detected in a wide range of organizations.
It showed that bots, viruses, breaches, and attacks
posed a constant and real threat to corporate security. It
indicated that some web applications used by employees
can compromise network security. Finally, it revealed that
employees routinely engaged in many practices that may
cause unintentional leakage of sensitive data.
In your Security Strategy: Technology
Alone is Not Enough
The Check Point approach to corporate security
acknowledges that technology alone is not enough. Our
view is that security needs to evolve from a collection of
disparate technologies and practices to form an cohesive
and effective business process. Check Point recommends
organizations to consider three key dimensions when
deploying a security solution strategy: Policies, People,
and Enforcement.
Policies
Security starts with a widely understood and well-defined
policy which is closely aligned to business needs rather
than a collection of system-level checks and dissimilar
technologies. Policies should place business as the top
priority and suggest ways for business to be carried out
in a secured manner. This aspect should be incorporated
into the corporate policy.
For example, during our analysis we found that employees
used web applications that were necessary for business flow,
but these applications may also compromise security. If
technologies that blocked the usage of suchweb applications
were deployed, it would have resulted in employees flooding
the security administrator with complaints. Or worse,
employees may have found ways to bypass the technology
themselves and in doing so, created new, and potentially
more harmful security concerns. Instead, Check Point
recommends a policy that acknowledges situations where
the use of such applications may be necessary, and thus the
procedure needs to be further defined in order to enable
usage in a secure manner. Users should be automatically
advised of the policy when necessary.
People
Computer system users are a critical part of the security
management process as they often make mistakes that
result in malware infections and information leakage.
We will conclude the report
with another Sun Zi quote taken
from The Art of War: here is an
advice for a military general:
“having collected an army
and concentrated his forces,
he must blend and harmonize
the different elements thereof
before pitching his camp.”
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05
SUMMARY AND
SECURI TY STRATEGY
