Nature of the Problem

What devices are within your environment and can you ensure their security

Devices Introduce a
Larger Attack Surface

Typically, organizations proactively protect their laptops while other devices go unmonitored and without protections.

Modern-day organizations are challenged with handling diverse types of devices accessing their data. These devices are not only tough to manage, but accumulatively, they generate a massive attack surface. In the same breath, the health and trustworthiness of those devices also greatly impact organizations’ security postures.

According to Gartner, “With IoT deployments, there remains a fundamental issue for many organizations to better assess the risk brought by unauthorized and unsecured devices. Organizations need to better understand and assess the existence and impact of IoT devices connecting to their infrastructures, and the potential vulnerabilities these devices may present. Therefore, organizations need to reach out outside their traditional IT infrastructure boundaries to find better ways to mitigate risks coming from the:

Adoption of IoT devices from a variety of business initiatives
Unauthorized device usage by employees within enterprise boundaries”ⁱ

Leaders Should Focus on Balancing Risk Tolerance and Business Goals

Given the fast pace of emerging technology and the business’s demands for growth, IT managers are often forced to implement new device initiatives on the fly. When organizations take this ad-hoc approach, they can end up taking on much more risk than the business really wants.

Instead, security, business, and IT leaders should partner proactively to develop and implement consistent device policies in line with their risk tolerance and business goals.

If you don’t have continuous knowledge of devices that connect and disconnect from your network, you surely cannot secure them or certify that they’re compliant or trustworthy. Leaders must establish governance that ensures the following:

Business leaders are enabled to make decisions that balance risk and value.
Security leaders have visibility into all endpoints and policy adherence.