ElasticSearch and SANS Institute published a white paper on modern security monitoring. Review this document to assess current industry standards.
This post explains the white paper findings in plain language.
Key points:
- Organizations often approach cyber and cloud security as a defensive war. This model relies on perimeter defenses, such as endpoint protection and malware detection, as the primary strategy.
- This approach leaves large network areas unmonitored. Attackers bypass point defenses and move freely within the environment.
- SquareShift views modern security as a counter-intelligence operation. The strategy focuses on: Monitoring all signals from servers, networks, and applications / Using machine learning and anomaly detection to identify unusual activity / Conducting investigations to locate breaches and adversaries / Executing protection, defense, and remediation with precision and speed
- This strategy shifts focus from point-defence tools to data and visibility across the environment.
- This represents a fundamental shift in how organizations conceptualize cyber and cloud security.
This section provides key excerpts from the white paper.
“Defenders possess extensive data sources and tools. However, most organizations underutilize available data and lack methods to combine it effectively.”
Threat actors adapt continuously. Why remain static in your defenses?
“Correlated data sources enable context-aware and resilient detections. This approach allows earlier identification and mitigation of threats. It also creates detailed audit trails, accelerating incident response investigations.”
Infrastructure, network, and applications generate significant log data. Proper correlation of these signals yields actionable insights for enhanced defense and protection.
“Visibility extends beyond asset identification. It maps available data sources for incident detection and response. It also assesses the likelihood of attacker evasion for each telemetry source. Relying on a single telemetry source creates a critical single point of failure.”
Action plan: Identify gaps. Deploy data collection agents. Centralize data. Detect anomalies across data sets. This process establishes a robust detection capability.
The white paper contains additional details beyond this summary. Review the full document. Share your feedback. Contact SquareShift for cybersecurity or cloud security support. We specialize in strengthening organizational security posture and improving security practices.
SquareShift provides the following security services:
- Security posture assessment for cloud workloads
- Security strategies that meet compliance, regulatory, and framework requirements, including MAS TRM, ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI-DSS, GDPR, and NIST CSF.
- Security event monitoring (SIEM) and Security Operations Center (SOC) management.
- DevSecOps practices that strengthen software supply chain security.
Contact our team at sales@squareshift.co. Visit our website for more details.