The right cybersecurity solutions can help protect your data from cyber threats. While the dangers are pervasive, you’re not doomed to experience a devastating breach. Help is out there—and once you know what features are most critical, you’ll be able to find software solutions that secure your organization and make your life easier.
Evaluating and implementing cybersecurity software requires diligence. And if your InfoSec team is short staffed, choosing the right tools is more important than ever.
53 percent of organizations report
a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills.
Source: CSO, 2019
Whether you’re looking to improve identity and access management, investigating a new antivirus solution, or considering adding data encryption to your layers of security controls, there is some common functionality you should look for.
Intuitive Interface
Driven by the simplicity of today’s consumer apps and technology, many business solutions are now much easier to use than they were in the past. An intuitive interface will make adoption easier, particularly for solutions that may be used by employees outside your IT department.
Integration
There’s no single silver bullet when it comes to cybersecurity. Threats are varied and they’re constantly changing. Securing your data and systems requires multiple layers of protection. But that can often mean multiple vendors and very different interfaces. When evaluating solutions, look for a vendor that can partner with your organization to improve your security posture over the long haul with integrated solutions. A unified platform like Fortra Insite provides a convenient hub for multiple IT solutions—cybersecurity software included.
Automation
When you automate repetitive security tasks, IT staff has more time to focus on more complex projects that can help move your organization forward. You’re able to do more in less time and the risk of human error is reduced. Whether you’re automating secure file transfers, role-based permissions, security policy adherence, or many other tasks, the use of automation is key to both efficiency and data protection. Look for solutions that shift some of the burden away from the IT team and onto software robots.
Monitoring
Even for smaller organization, today’s IT networks are far too complicated to administer without the assistance of 24/7 monitoring capabilities. Consider whether the solutions you’re evaluating include advanced functionality for scanning your infrastructure in real time to help you troubleshoot issues, identify irregularities, and detect intruders.
Alerts
The sister functionality of monitoring is alerting. You’ll want to know immediately when your cybersecurity solution finds that something is amiss, and configurable alerts do just that. Making sure you have a good way to send alerts to the right individuals or teams is an essential capability. You don’t want to miss a minute of response time when a true issue arises.
Audit Trail
Many companies are required to demonstrate compliance with mandates such as the GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and others. Even if your organization isn’t bound by a formal compliance requirement, auditing is a cybersecurity best practice. You need solutions that can produce an audit trail of what happened on your systems, including the safeguards put in place to control access. A solution that lacks auditing features will only become a liability.
Implementation Services and Training
Having a solid solution in place is one thing. Ensuring it’s properly implemented and that your team knows how to use the software is another. A great cybersecurity software firm not only provides a strong product, it makes implementation, configuration and training a priority.
Responsive Customer Support
Top-notch cybersecurity solutions must have responsive support to make them truly viable over the long term. Especially if you’re experiencing an urgent situation such as an intrusion, you need a guide who can help you navigate your solutions quickly so you can shut down the attack.
Peace of Mind
While helping you sleep at night will never be a feature box to check in your solution’s dashboard, you’ll know you made a good choice if your new cybersecurity software gives you peace of mind your operations are secure.