Page 24 - GCN, Feb/Mar 2018

ADAPTIVE RESPONSE
Advances in identity
and risk management
New approaches to privileged access and threat intelligence require pulling important insights from enormous amounts of data. Fortunately, new tools harness the power of authentication and machine learning to help agencies analyze data and tailor their cybersecurity strategies to their risks.
Kevin Corbett
Director of Federal Sales, CyberArk
Adaptive approaches
help secure access
When it comes to privileged access, one size does not t all
THE GOVERNMENT HAS a unique mix of employees and contract personnel, and they all need access to systems and data. At some point, the distinction between an outside versus inside threat becomes moot. It doesn’t matter if the point of origin is North Korea or Virginia. When bad actors make their way into an agency’s systems, they will use privileged accounts to do damage.
Agencies can verify and authenticate users’ identities through a variety of means, such as multi-factor authentication, but privilege is present for both human and non-human entities. Agencies must control access to resources for all of them. Attackers do not care what type of account they use, so the
goal must be limiting the number of privileged accounts and achieving the corresponding shrinkage in the available attack surface.
That adaptive approach can involve limiting the scope of access to network resources and tracking when a privileged account logs in, even if it is a shared or service account. For a high-value asset, an agency might create a dual-approval process so that if a privileged account wants to make changes to a system, a message is automatically sent to a group of approvers for review and possible action.
Technology has evolved into a world in which systems are spinning up and down instantly and users are more mobile than ever — all while legacy systems still require operational access to sensitive data. Agencies must adapt and choose solutions that are resilient but adaptable to today’s ever-changing technology environments.
Kevin Corbett is director of federal sales at CyberArk. S-24 | SPONSORED CONTENT
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