No matter how much money and security technology organizations throw at their security problems, defenses alone aren't enough. Breaches remain a question of when, not if. Ransomware payments hit an astonishing $1 billion record last year, even as some operators were disrupted by law enforcement.
Here's the challenge. Rather than taking a closer look at their security operations, many organizations expect technology to solve their problem — and the cybersecurity industry is happy to oblige, responding to the growing attack surface with more solutions. From vCISO services to managed detection and response (MDR) platforms, many vendors claim to offer the silver bullet — compelling security teams to adopt a variety of new technologies in hopes of better protecting their environment.
But many of these solutions bring their own challenges, adding new complexities to an already complicated environment. The result: yet more tools, an even larger attack surface, and a labyrinth of complexities and inefficiencies the SOC must manage. One of the simplest ways to escape this cycle is going back to security operations basics. Properly deploying and configuring your security stack will optimize your security investments — so you can get the most value from your existing tools before deciding if you need more.
The pitfalls of an ever-expanding security stack
Most surveyed SOC teams agree that the attack surface has expanded significantly in the past three years, and they're seeing considerable sprawl in the tools they use. Having too many tools is the second-biggest frustration for security practitioners — right behind doing too many repetitive, manual tasks. Some of the biggest problems stemming from tool sprawl:
- Redundancies. Overlapping capabilities — whether threat detection, threat intelligence, or vulnerability scanning — slow productivity. Team efforts get duplicated, wasting resources. There's also confusion: which tool's alerts should be prioritized?
- Improperly deployed or undeployed technologies. SOC teams are already pressed for time. With so many different solutions to roll out, many simply can't keep up with the complicated, time-consuming deployment steps. It's common, for example, for organizations to purchase endpoint protection for all owned devices but only deploy on half of them. And even when implemented, technologies are very often not configured correctly — IBM Security researchers found that 30% of pen-tested web app vulnerabilities were due to misconfigurations.
- Complete gaps. Data silos, alert fatigue, environmental complexity, and underutilized tools create significant visibility issues. Without a complete and accurate picture, the SOC may not know about defensive gaps in specific areas.
Misconfigured or improperly maintained tools — and the lack of resources to manage them — create the opposite of the desired effect. It's a breach waiting to happen. According to a Gartner survey, improving security posture is the main reason organizations seek vendor consolidation: 75% were pursuing it in 2022, compared with only 29% two years prior. Security teams are realizing that more is not better when it comes to the technology stack.
What you need for building a right-sized stack
The cybersecurity vendor market has more than 1,000 categories and at least 8,000 different products. Don't try to navigate all of them. Focus on the core technologies that create robust, layered defenses:
- Email security — Phishing remains a prevalent tactic, and email is the main source of daily threats targeting your people. The latest Verizon DBIR found that 68% of threats involve the human factor. Email security stops malware before it reaches the inbox.
- Firewall — Even as your perimeter moves beyond the corporate walls, the firewall remains critical to your internal network defense. It blocks threats proactively, before they can get inside.
- Endpoint detection and response (EDR) — Even the best defenses let some threats slip through. EDR provides the endpoint visibility and real-time response that's instrumental to identifying and mitigating threats inside your environment.
- Vulnerability management — Organizations with an unresolved critical vulnerability are 33% more likely to file a cybersecurity insurance claim than those that have addressed it. Continuous identification, assessment, and prioritization of misconfigurations and other vulnerabilities — then quick mitigation of the most critical ones.
- SIEM — Most SOC teams drown in alerts to the point that two-thirds get ignored. A well-maintained SIEM cuts through the noise, surfacing the most important alerts and eliminating false positives.
The key to ensuring this fundamental stack does its job is proper deployment, configuration, and continuous maintenance using best practices. Without these steps, any one of these tools turns into expensive shelfware — and you're back to square one, lured by the latest vendor promise. Optimizing your stack improves team efficiency, ensures you're getting value from your investments, and boosts your security posture.
Security operations is the answer
At the heart of solving the cybersecurity challenge lies a strong focus on security operations. Instead of chasing the latest shiny technology, organizations should prioritize building a resilient framework grounded in well-executed operations. By enhancing security operations, teams can streamline processes, ensure proper integration of tools, and maintain continuous visibility across their entire infrastructure.
A well-managed SOC not only reduces mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR), but also drastically reduces the risk of misconfigurations and underutilized tools. Investing in managed security services or vCISO services can further bolster your operations by delivering expert guidance and operational oversight, ensuring your defenses evolve with the ever-changing threat landscape.
How Digital Hands helps
Working with a trusted vCISO service provider or cybersecurity services partner like Digital Hands ensures your tools are properly deployed and maintained, avoiding the pitfalls of tool sprawl. When you partner with Digital Hands, you gain:
- Strategic technology management to fortify your technological ecosystem and align security infrastructure with business objectives
- Tailored security strategies that align seamlessly with your organizational objectives
- Proactive risk management — targeted security controls and measures to mitigate risk effectively
- Incident response and preparedness to help you plan and respond effectively
- Leadership and guidance for your in-house IT and security teams so they can stay current with the latest threats and best practices