The Digital Big Bang

9VISIBILITY

“Securing a network is difficult enough, and nearly impossible without appropriate visibility.”

Michael Chertoff, Former Secretary, Department of Homeland Security

“Start with the intel. Start with the intel. And then, start with the intel.”

Tim Crothers, Target

“One of the main visibility challenges for the CISO is seeing what changes are coming.”

Daniel Hooper, PIMCO

Visibility operates from a simple principle: You cannot defend what you cannot see—and you certainly cannot effectively protect yourself from attacks and attackers that strike from positions of veritable digital obscurity.

Visibility is integral to cybersecurity but has experienced an intense paradigm shift over the past decade. The number and type of connected devices, and the fluidity with which they come and go, requires a greater emphasis on visibility. The number of devices on your network greatly increases the attack surface. You need to know where and what they are. The variety of devices on your network creates both complexity and opportunity. You would like to know what kinds of tools are at your disposal to defend yourself, and where you might be vulnerable. The mobility and agility of devices, due to wireless and portable computing, makes static and query-based analysis instantly out of date. You need real-time status.

Without visibility, any defense against attack is reduced ...