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Is Your Organization Suffering from Security Stack Bloat?

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Cybersecurity has changed.

It’s difficult to say when this happened. Perhaps it was when enterprises accepted the value of cloud software. Maybe it was the shift to distributed work during COVID-19.  Or it could’ve been the consumerization of IT driven by the proliferation of smartphones.

Or perhaps this evolution was always an inevitability.

Whatever the case, a traditional, perimeter-focused approach to protecting your organization is no longer enough. The security perimeter as we once knew it is gone. In its place is a vast ecosystem of suppliers, vendors, partners and remote staff with an attack surface so extensive it nearly defies explanation. 

Unfortunately, many businesses continue to structure their cybersecurity strategy as though it’s still the early 2000s. They deal with each new and emerging threat by deploying a new point solution. 

This is ineffective for several reasons: 

  • Too many moving parts. Each new point solution means more time and resources spent on onboarding and upkeep. Eventually, your stack will become unsustainable, essentially collapsing under its own weight. 
  • Alert fatigue. Imagine that you have an app that sends a new notification every few minutes. Now imagine that there are twenty of those apps and each one sends a notification at a different frequency. This is the reality faced by many cybersecurity professionals—they’re literally drowning in a sea of irrelevant notifications that make it nearly impossible to identify and remediate genuine threats. 
  • A mercurial threat landscape. Modern threat actors move fast. Trying to keep up with them while using legacy security solutions is akin to racing a Bugatti in a Station Wagon. You’ll end up left in the dust. 
  • No visibility. Old-school security tools aren’t made to manage a massive threat surface, nor can they easily secure a digital supply chain. You’re essentially locking your front door while hoping no one notices that you didn’t bother installing windows. 

So if  you’re dealing with security stack bloat, what exactly can you do about it? How can you transition away from legacy security tools towards something more efficient, effective and sustainable? 

It starts with finding the right vendors. Look for a company with experience in and an understanding of your industry first and foremost. We’d also recommend trying to consolidate your cybersecurity tools, meaning you should work with as few vendors as possible—ideally, you’ll find someone that provides an all-in-one security platform. 

Beyond that, the process is the same as with any other vendor. Do your due diligence and look up what people say about the vendor online. Make sure they don’t have any skeletons in their closet, and double-check that they can achieve everything they claim. 

Above all, shop around. You probably aren’t going to find the perfect vendor immediately, but eventually you’ll find someone who can help you cut out the bloat from your security stack and achieve a better overall security posture in the process.

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