What Automation Does to Your System Hardening Efforts

It’s that time again. The time to do more with less. But, when it comes to cybersecurity, it’s also the time to do more than ever…with less.

Every 39 seconds, a hacker attacks a system with Internet access. Most of these attacks employ automated scripts that seek out computers with vulnerabilities. Then the computers will be relentlessly attacked until the hackers get in. Maybe they want to steal data or research. Or maybe they just want to hold your system hostage for a big payout.  The average cost of a data breach in the US is $9.6M and 87% of organizations say they’ve had an attempted cyberattack in the past year.

The best way to avoid these attacks is to “harden your system”, “create a secure baseline”, “eliminate attack vectors”, “reduce your attack surface” and “establish strong security controls.” In layman’s terms, what all this is saying is that you need to find the vulnerabilities in your system and make them not vulnerable anymore.

System hardening can be hard.

Finding the vulnerabilities in your system is not as easy as it seems. So, many will turn to established best practices, such as National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publications (SP) 800-128 and 800-70. These guides provide best practices for configuring your system in a more secure way. Roadmaps that come from NIST guidelines include Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) and CIS Benchmarks.

You’ll find the more stringent STIG standards used in highly secure environments like the Department of Defense, where it is mandated. CIS Benchmarks are commonly used electively in other government agencies, as well as corporations, higher education, and government contracting.

Often, companies will cite the cost and effort of these measures as to why they don’t lock their systems down in a comprehensive way. So they’ll put it off, hoping malicious actors don’t take their current security measures for a spin…hoping the damage doesn’t cost $9.6M to fix. We do find that, once a system is attacked and consequences come calling, organizations no longer bristle at the time and cost securing their systems takes. (Spoiler alert: It costs less than $9.6M.)

What is involved with system hardening?

To begin with, we recommend following standardized guidelines like STIG and CIS Benchmarks. CIS Benchmarks, for example, are developed by consensus from recommendations by global cybersecurity experts. They are updated regularly as new vulnerabilities emerge. They are also based on NIST guidelines, so if you are seeking a certification like Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) or to establish a Zero Trust stance, aligning with CIS Benchmarks will get you there.

Next, you need to pore through your system looking for the vulnerable controls indicated by your STIG or CIS Benchmarks guidelines. Commercial applications are built with a certain amount of vulnerability and acceptable risk. The risk is acceptable because something like Microsoft Word is built for a mass audience that is unlikely to get their home computer hacked. Tradeoffs were made between risk and functionality that were deemed acceptable for the average home user. But your organization is using Word in a corporate environment, surrounded by valuable data that hackers can monetize.

Wherever a vulnerability is indicated, that function needs to be remediated. This, in turn, can “break” your application or device. So, you’ll need to fix that. This process of scanning, remediating, breaking, then remediating again in every corner of your system can be cumbersome, frustrating and time consuming.

This manual process is intimidating. It’s time consuming. It will likely require you to hire in-demand experts. It’s expensive. It’s inconsistent. It triggers everyone’s resistance to change. And it may even disrupt operations. These are just a few of the reasons organizations put off baseline hardening.

Automation can counter most of your organization’s resistance.

Creating a secure baseline and reducing your attack surface with STIG or CIS Benchmarks will create an enviable security stance for your organization. But creating that stance takes a lot of human resources—humans who can make mistakes. Automating the process can:

• Save time and effort. Automation eliminates 90% of the effort it takes for system hardening and makes it easy to achieve with the staff you already have.
• Save money. Automation can reduce the costs of system hardening by at least 70%.
• Manage mindsets. The intimidation factor and resistance to change is easily countered by a demo that shows how easy, comprehensive and affordable automation is.
• Prove success. Automated security usually includes automated reporting to show your system is aligned with standards. This not only reassures the powers that be, but it also facilitates certifications and assessments like CMMC and CORA.
• Eliminate errors. Once policy is set, automation eliminates 100% of human error.
• Establish a consistent approach. Automation does what you tell it to do, every time, over and over, even if different people are operating it.
• Work without disruption. Automation allows you to secure your system without disrupting workflow.
• Secure any workforce configuration. Whether your workforce is on-site or hybrid and distributed, automation can help you maintain continuous compliance, even if half your employees are not consistently online. This is a huge issue using manual methods, but effortless with automation.
• Stop configuration drift. Network controls aren’t “set-it-and-forget-it”, unfortunately. Because system hardening requires every element of your system to work securely together, even adding a new user can start the process of drifting away from a secure baseline. You need continuous compliance, constantly scanning and remediating between updates. Automation accomplishes this more effectively than humans can.
• Keep you up to date. Both STIG and CIS Benchmarks guidelines are updated regularly—STIGs are updated every 3 months and CIS Benchmarks are updated when new vulnerabilities emerge.
• Simplify cybersecurity. For all the reasons above, automation makes it easy and feasible for your organization to lock your systems down and keep them that way.

Hackers aren’t hesitating. Neither should you.

Automation isn’t just for system defenders. It’s for attackers, too. In fact, automation and AI are the tools of choice for hackers. Which is why the government increasingly insists on fighting fire with fire. The consensus in both the cybersecurity world and in our government is that automation is the best way to secure your systems and fight cybercriminals.

SteelCloud’s ConfigOS automates system hardening to STIG and CIS Benchmarks standards. In fact, SteelCloud is a certified CIS Benchmarks provider, reducing weeks and months of manual work to as little as an hour and keeping your system secure continually around the clock.

With new attacks launched every 39 seconds, it’s like playing roulette with your data twice every minute of every hour in every day. Bad actors are using the latest tools to outwit your system. Automated cybersecurity stops them. To see how easily you can harden your systems to world-class standards using the staff you have, request a demo today.