A Tool To "Close All Security Gaps".

The best advancements in technology are the tools that allow us to do multiple things at once.

Take the cellphone: containing the clock, a calculator, a cellular phone, a web browser, a mail service, a stopwatch, a calendar, a camera, and so much more. Or a laptop, a general-purpose computer that merges a television and a CD player and is mobile.

Even the once-viral tech, ChatGPT, allows us to perform research in less time, summarize results, and produce what we need depending on the prompt given to it.

So it's not surprising ? no, it's even normal ? to love and jump on the products and services that allow us to do multiple things at once, like closing all security gaps.

Yet we have to sieve the make-believe from facts. Remember if it's too good to be true, it probably is false.

Can We Solve Cybersecurity Problems With One Tool?

I believe that if such a tool truly exists, it would make headlines immediately, and be sold at premium prices.

Currently, that's a fantasy.

And even worse, (if consistent updates aren't made), that tool will be obsolete a few months later.

Because hackers never stop improving.

Some security processes like threat modeling and penetration testing, still require a human touch. Unless your software was created strictly by bots for bots, the need for human touch is crucial to scrutinize everything at various stages of the software development lifecycle.

Even code that is created through prompts to a chatbot usually has to be revised by a human hand before it goes live.

The truth is that the unicorn tool is a marketing gimmick.

It's the crux of innovation. If companies over-promise, it's only instinctual to be drawn to them.

But with cybersecurity, that's not realistic.

This is where the voices of reason (your security experts) come in.

HOW TO BREAK FREE FROM THE MYTH

• Realize that cybersecurity is not a one-and-done thing.

Software is constantly updated, new tools are always going on the market and hackers are constantly polishing their skills.

These 3 together ensure that there is no one time that you can decide to sit on your haunches because you are done with strengthening your software’s cybersecurity.

More than anything, cybersecurity is a constant change because of the threat and security landscape we live.

“Building security is a dynamic, ever-changing process.”

- Brook Schoenfield , cybersecurity Elder Statesman, CTO at Resilient Software Security

• There are numerous aspects of cybersecurity practice that still require human input

Take threat modeling, for instance. Today, this requires that software designers (and threat modeling experts) create an expansive yet concise report on the design flaws of the app or software. Threat modeling tools support this process, but today's state of the art requires human input as well as other tools to cover more code-centric or input-focused testing.

Penetration tests aalso depend on the expertise of a (human) pen tester.

• There are aspects of cybersecurity that can't be automated

Incident response and forensic analysis often require human expertise to properly investigate and determine the underlying details of a cyber breach. Analyzing and understanding the threat actors /cyber attackers is difficult to fully automate.

Developing security policies and procedures that adequately fit an organization needs an in-depth understanding of the specific needs and requirements of that organization.

• What can be automated still requires human oversight

Automated security testing (AST) exists. But who inputs the configuration for the test to work? With the current state of the art, humans are still needed.

Automated doesn't mean autonomous. It’s still necessary for automation to be reviewed and managed by someone.

How Can I Prioritize the Most Important Parts of Security?

1. Input security from the ground up. Start your security measures early in the Software Development LifeCycle

By using the right combination of security tools and BKMs as you design, code, and deploy your software, there is a reduced chance of releasing less-than-secure software.

Plus, there is an even better chance of finding these vulnerabilities way before the product or feature launches.

2. Know your security risk profile

A risk profile is a quantitative examination of the types of threats an organization, asset, or software faces.

Knowing your risk profile places you at the forefront of your security allowing you to take the best path to protect yourself and to respond swiftly to attacks.

So far, this is the best AI-powered risk assessment I know of.

3. Threat model your software to find the design flaws

Threat modeling is the only security process that focuses on software design flaws, working from the inside out.

Rather than a pen test which finds vulnerabilities by posing as an external attacker (which may still miss other design loopholes), threat modeling scrutinizes the software’s design to find configurations that may be misused as an attack point.

The plus is, you can start threat modeling yourself.

When the combined, you can say you have comprehensive software security RATHER than depending on one tool to do all the work.

I believe that advances in AI and automation hold a lot of promise for easing and/or aiding cybersecurity implementation for businesses and their leaders.

But no one tool can ever provide all the security that you need, no matter what marketers claim.

Instead, cybersecurity innovators must creatively build tools that simplify the lives of their human users, while collaborating wonderfully with the other security tools that their businesses need. And this is why my team and I are building Rezliant.

#cybersecurity #saas #ai #blockchain #softwaretools