Keeping the noise down also is key. Using technology that assesses whether a security alert or alarm is a critical threat to a network can help companies avoid "security information overload," said Sheri Mason, director of marketing at CA.
"Systems can generate one, five, 10 million security events a day. So we don't need security technology that creates events. We need technology that reduces them," Mason said. "Otherwise, we're running after false alarms and possibly missing real ones."
Mike Furey, special assistant to the associate lab director at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, N.Y., illustrated the sobering reality of the current geopolitical climate. "We are now testing radiation sources in moving vehicles to see the limits of current technology, and the makers of that technology need to raise the bar," Furey said.
But CA's Cunniffe best explained the sound logic of simplicity in IT security. "Every person is generally involved with homeland security because our companies are the backbone of the overall economy," she said. "Nobody owns the Internet, but if everyone protected their assets, we'd be closer to the ultimate goal."
