Hackers are targeting businesses more than ever before.
This can allow hackers to exploit the opportunity.
One potential solution is to automate security processes wherever possible.
So what is security automation and should your business be using it?
What Is Security Automation?
Security automation is the process of using software to perform security tasks.
It reduces the amount of work required by making some actions more efficient and making others automatic.
The software can also react to security incidents faster and can therefore prevent intruders from accessing private information.
Advantages of Security Automation
Security automation increases productivity and can make a business more secure.
Here are the primary advantages.
Automation Increases Productivity
Automating repetitive tasksmakes security personnel more productive.
This is particularly important when you consider that many security staff are overworked.
By automating repetitive tasks, personnel can be free to work on higher-priority tasks.
This significantly reduces the potential damage due to such incidents.
Depending on the software being used, this can often be achieved without human input.
This creates a more streamlined approach to security which increases efficiency and reduces training requirements.
Security automation is the process of using software to perform security tasks.
Security orchestration is the process of integrating security software and processes.
Security orchestration also includes automation but is able to achieve more.
Security Automation Tools
There are many software products available that are designed to automate security processes.
Here are a few products worth implementing.
RPA can perform repetitive activities such as collecting information from security software and blocking IPs.
Security Configuration Management Tools (SCMT)
SCMT looks at how your systems are configured.
SCMT can also change configurations if a system has been configured incorrectly.
Penetration Testing Tools
Penetration testing is the act of attempting to access a internet without authorization.
It is performed to find weaknesses that can then be fixed.
Penetration testing tools automate this process, allowing businesses to test their entire internet quickly.
How to Implement Security Automation
Security automation can increase productivity and security.
Here’s how to implement it.
Businesses should look at both the most important activities and the activities which take up the most time.
Automation that can prevent attacks should be prioritized.
Businesses should then look at other areas where productivity can be increased.
Playbooks should be created that illustrate how security incidents are handled manually.
Opportunities for automation can then be found by looking at all the tasks within those playbooks.
Most automated tasks should therefore be combined with human input.
It is particularly important that serious threats are flagged and escalated to manual input where necessary.
Implementing automation, therefore, requires a large amount of employee training.
Add Automation Slowly
Automation should be added to a business slowly.
Because employees need to be trained, individual tasks should be automated one at a time.
The effectiveness of automation should also be regularly evaluated.
If automation is added without sufficient human understanding, security issues can inadvertently be introduced.
Provide Alternative Work
The purpose of automation is to make security teams more efficient.
for maximize the benefit from this, businesses should assign alternative work to employees.
for implement security automation, businesses should look at both important tasks and those which are the most repetitive.
Tasks should then be automated one by one while evaluating for effectiveness.
