Ertug Ayik, VP & MD of Middle East and Africa talks about the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape in the region, and how HP Sure Click secures regional enterprises from various vulnerabilities. He also shares his thoughts on how CIOs can proactively manage and mitigate future threats
According to you, what is the best approach to identify and assess potential future threats?
In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats, a proactive and layered strategy is paramount. By identifying potential threats before they can be exploited, organizations can, and should, take proactive measures to eliminate or reduce these risks. Leveraging innovative solutions like HP Sure Click, which employs micro-virtual machines for application isolation, enables anticipation of potential threats by creating secure environments for untrusted content. HP Sure Click helps strengthen security at your PC’s most vulnerable entry points, trapping and deleting malware as soon as you close the application.
Additionally, collaboration with industry experts, leveraging threat intelligence providers, and fostering a culture of continuous learning within the organization empower us to better identify and evaluate emerging threats before they pose significant risks.
In a dynamic digital world, how do you stay updated with current and emerging threats in the industry?
Staying current in the dynamic digital landscape demands constant vigilance. Active participation in industry forums, cybersecurity conferences, and maintaining partnerships with leading security organizations keep us informed about the latest threat landscape and attack vectors. It also requires strategic investment in innovation. HP has been investing to lead the industry in platform security technology for over two decades to protect businesses from attacks that increasingly target low-level device firmware and hardware. Our commitment to research and development allows us to design hardware and solutions that resist threats in a hybrid world, where devices are more exposed than they have ever been.
Malware attacks are still very common. In your viewpoint, what is the best way to combat such attacks?
Indeed, malware attacks persist as a significant challenge. Our strategy to counter such attacks is multifaceted. For more than two decades, HP has led the industry forward by investing in research and innovation to raise the bar in endpoint security. Having security baked into consumers’ PCs is essential. Threat containment technology such as HP Sure Click helps defend against attacks – its isolation technology stands as a robust defense by containing potentially malicious activities within secure micro-VMs, thereby preventing their impact on the broader system.
HP Sure Click extends protection beyond the browser, offering protected viewing for PDFs and full editing for Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents within a micro-VM. If a file is compromised, the malware is contained and prevented from infecting the PC. Additionally, fostering a security-conscious culture within the organization, educating users about safe online practices, and consistently updating security measures all play pivotal roles in effectively countering malware attacks.
What steps should a CIO take to proactively mitigate future threats?
When it comes to proactively mitigating future threats, CIOs should consider extending their endpoint security posture along two key dimensions. First, with the use of hardware-enforced isolation technologies like HP Sure Click Enterprise that improve on industry standard detection-first security software and protect businesses from zero-day attacks.
Second, with advanced platform security technologies like HP Sure Start, which must be prioritized when procuring new devices, to protect businesses from low-level device firmware and physical-access threats. We see more threat actors focusing their attacks below the operating system and expect this trend to accelerate, so it is imperative CIOs take steps to reduce their hardware and firmware attack surface.
How can a CIO prioritize and manage multiple potential threats simultaneously?
Managing numerous threats concurrently necessitates a risk-based approach. CIOs should conduct thorough risk assessments to identify vulnerabilities and prioritize them based on potential impact. HP Wolf Security can be seamlessly integrated into the organization’s security framework to handle a spectrum of threats, across firmware protection, privileged access management, application isolation, next-generation anti-virus and remotely locating, locking and wiping lost PCs. By utilizing threat intelligence and implementing automation where applicable, CIOs can optimally allocate resources to tackle the most critical threats while maintaining a proactive stance against emerging risks.
How will a CIO know that all the mitigation measures are effective and aligned with the organization’s goals?
Effective alignment of mitigation measures with organizational goals is pivotal. CIOs can define clear success criteria and key performance indicators (KPIs) for security initiatives. Regular audits, assessments, and simulated attacks can validate the efficacy of mitigation measures. HP Sure Click’s traceable containment approach enables monitoring and evaluation of the solution’s performance against real-world threats, allowing CIOs to practice threat-informed defense.
HP Sure Click quantifies risks by recording how users encounter threats, whether through email attachments, browser downloads or clicking on links. These insights reduce known risks and may even uncover previously unknown risky user behaviors that CIOs can take steps to address at an organizational level. HP Sure Click automatically maps attack attempts to MITRE ATT&CK, an industry knowledge base that enables CIOs to understand the techniques attackers are using against their organizations and prioritize their defenses based on the threats they face.
What metrics or indicators are available to measure the success of mitigation efforts in managing future threats?
Evaluating the success of mitigation efforts entails tracking diverse metrics. These include the decrease in successful malware infections, the quantity of isolated threats captured by solutions like HP Sure Click, the speed of incident response, and the reduction in the overall risk profile of the organization. Routine security assessments, user training feedback, and incident response metrics additionally provide valuable perspectives on the effectiveness of endeavors in managing future threats and enhancing an organization’s cybersecurity posture. More broadly, implementing industry frameworks, such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, helps leaders benchmark the maturity of their security strategy, identify areas for improvement and measure their performance against industry peers.