In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the complexity of cybersecurity tools is becoming increasingly burdensome for organizations. This complexity, often referred to as "tool sprawl," has emerged as a significant risk and cost issue for modern enterprises. In the first part of our series on this topic, we explored the multifaceted reasons why cybersecurity tool sprawl is problematic. We discussed how overlapping functionalities, alert fatigue, delayed incident responses, and increased maintenance demands contribute to the challenges organizations face.
Moving beyond the "why," this article focuses on the "how." If your organization is prepared to streamline operations, reduce risks, and enhance efficiency, this guide provides actionable steps to adopt a more cohesive and strategic approach to cybersecurity.
Initiating Cybersecurity Consolidation
To embark on the journey of cybersecurity consolidation, there are three primary steps to consider.
1. Integrate Cybersecurity, Compliance, and Platform Teams
The foundation of any modernization effort is the collaboration among people. Establish dedicated platform teams that work in tandem with cybersecurity and compliance teams. When these groups are aligned, cybersecurity and compliance requirements can be integrated into the platform itself, rather than being managed separately.
This integration will reveal numerous opportunities for tool consolidation. The platform team, with its broad perspective, should lead the tool acquisition process. By looking beyond the traditional cybersecurity vendor landscape, they can focus on purchasing comprehensive product platforms and ecosystems instead of numerous single-point solutions. This approach enhances cost efficiency and productivity.
2. Evaluate Tool and Vendor Proliferation
With the collaboration of cybersecurity and platform teams, the next step involves a thorough assessment of your existing tool landscape.
Conduct a Tool Inventory
Gather stakeholders from all relevant teams, including networking, cybersecurity, DNS, firewall, cryptography, platform, cloud, datacenter sysadmins, architecture, GRC, CI/CD or release engineers, and more. Each team should present their tool stacks, identifying any untracked tools (possibly shadow IT) used by smaller teams or individuals.
Document all security-related tools and their functionalities. This comprehensive overview will aid in making informed decisions moving forward.
- Do you have multiple instances of the same tool?
- Are there tools with overlapping functionalities?
- Are you using tools from numerous vendors when a few could suffice?
- Which tools are unnecessary or underutilized?
Research your current and potential security product vendors to identify those with extensive solution portfolios that could replace some of your point solutions. Consider the following:
- Which vendors offer synergistic products built around a platform mindset with substantial case study collections?
- Are there opportunities for tighter integration and shared observability between products if some tools are replaced with those from a single vendor?
- What are the potential support efficiencies and cost savings from consolidating functionalities into a single vendor relationship?
After identifying unused tools, critically evaluate those in use that may not align with your cybersecurity goals. A detailed examination may reveal certain products as being excessive for your threat model.
Consider the consolidation journey undertaken by Roche healthcare, which offers valuable insights and takeaways from their experience.
3. Prioritize High-Impact, Risk-Reducing Tools
Focus on the most common security breach methods. Surprisingly, these aren’t AI attacks or the latest zero-day vulnerabilities. The most prevalent attack vectors remain social engineering, primarily through phishing, and credential management.
Begin your cybersecurity consolidation with these two use cases. For social engineering, prioritize phishing prevention tools and comprehensive organizational cybersecurity training.
For credential management, key steps for reorienting and consolidating your cybersecurity efforts include:
- Identity-Based Security: Establish this as the foundation using tools designed around it.
- Central Secrets Management Platform: Select a central platform for credential management and tracking. These products also serve as the main identity broker for service and cloud infrastructure access.
- Integration with VCS, CI/CD, and Infrastructure Provisioning: Choose a platform that integrates seamlessly with these systems.
- Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC): Opt for platforms with native GRC guardrails, such as static/dynamic testing and policy as code.
- Comprehensive Management Solutions: Ensure the platform includes native or same-vendor secret scanning, public key infrastructure (PKI), and access management solutions.
From this foundation, expand your tooling with a focus on selecting 1-2 vendors and product suites that offer a robust cybersecurity foundation against common threats like credential theft.
Platforms built by the same vendor from the ground up provide a more cohesive, integrated, and scalable experience. However, avoid acquiring more features than necessary unless future needs are anticipated.
Further Learning
Organizational leaders should encourage their cybersecurity, engineering, and infrastructure operations teams to minimize complexity by centralizing and consolidating around a few security platforms rather than a multitude of smaller tools.
Successful cybersecurity product consolidation initiatives have been undertaken by companies such as Roche, Vodafone, Deutsche Bank, and Canva. These organizations have successfully reduced risks and streamlined operations by embracing tool consolidation.
For additional insights, download the "Secure by Design: How to Reduce Cloud Risk and Maintain Compliance" whitepaper to learn more about consolidating Security Lifecycle Management tools.
By adopting these strategies, organizations can effectively manage cybersecurity tool sprawl, achieving a more efficient, secure, and streamlined operation.
For more Information, Refer to this article.
