Centrify, the leader in securing hybrid enterprises through the power of identity services, today shares seven steps for businesses that want to secure their data assets from cyber stalkers.

With Australia implementing mandatory data breach reporting from February next year, Centrify warns that companies need to increase their Identity and Access Management (IAM) maturity to effectively reduce the risk of a data breach and the resulting damage when it is reported.

Centrify Senior Director APAC Sales Niall King said a reported data breach could damage shareholder value and customer loyalty. “A breach can wipe out company value, as we saw it with Yahoo!’s acquisition price devaluation of $350 million after its data breaches were announced,” he said.

“A recent Ponemon research study found that stock prices fall an average of five per cent and customer churn can increase as much as seven per cent after a data breach is disclosed. The stakes for properly securing access to corporate resources and handling security incidents couldn’t be higher.”

To help organisations improve their cybersecurity defences, Centrify below outlines seven best practices:

1. Consolidate identities: According to Verizon, 80 per cent of breaches are due to compromised credentials. It’s critical to develop a holistic view of all users and strengthen and enforce password policy, or eliminate passwords, where possible
2. Enable Single Sign-On (SSO): Single Sign-On to enterprise and cloud apps, combined with automated cloud application provisioning and self-service password resets, cuts helpdesk time and cost, and improves user efficiency
3. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) everywhere: Multi-Factor Authentication, including third parties and the Virtual Private Network (VPN) that adapts to user behaviour, is widely acknowledged as one of the most effective measures to prevent threat actors from gaining access to the network and navigating to target systems
4. Audit third party risk: Outsourced IT and third party vendors are a preferred route for hackers to access corporate networks. Conduct audits and assessments to evaluate the security and privacy practices of third parties
5. Enforce least-privilege access: Role-based access, least-privilege and just-in-time privilege approval approaches protect high-value accounts, while reducing the likelihood of data loss from malicious insiders
6. Govern privileged sessions: Logging and monitoring of all privileged user commands makes compliance reporting a trivial matter and enables forensic investigation to conduct root cause analysis, and
7. Protect the inside network: Network segmentation, isolation of highly sensitive data and encryption of data at rest and in motion provide strong protection from malicious insiders and persistent hackers once inside the firewall.

With a recent Forrester Consulting study finding that two-thirds of organisations have been breached in the past two years, it’s clear that traditional security approaches are not working. Companies need to completely rethink their security stance by employing IAM approaches as well as using integrated IAM technology platforms to reduce security risk in today’s boundaryless hybrid enterprise.

The Forrester study found that organisations without a mature IAM approach experience twice as many data breaches and $5 million more in costs than those with a mature IAM approach. The study found a direct correlation between a mature IAM approach and reduced security risk, improved productivity, increased privileged activity management and greatly reduced financial loss.

For media assistance in Australia and New Zealand, call John Harris on +61 8 8431 4000 or email john@impress.com.au.

About Centrify

Centrify redefines security from a legacy static perimeter-based approach to protecting millions of scattered connections in a boundaryless hybrid enterprise. As the only industry-recognised leader in both Privileged Identity Management and Identity-as-a-Service, Centrify provides a single platform to secure each user’s access to apps and infrastructure through the power of identity services. This is Next Dimension Security in the Age of Access. Centrify is enabling more than 5000 customers, including more than half the Fortune 50, to defend their organisations. To learn more visit www.centrify.com. 

The Breach Stops Here.

###

Centrify is a registered trademark and Centrify Server Suite, Centrify Privilege Service and Centrify Identity Service are trademarks of Centrify Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Twitter