By Paul Young, Co-Founder & CIO NextSTOP Consulting

NEEDED: An Upstream Cybersecurity Threat Platform to enhance the “Castle” Model

While I was CCO at ClearObject we implemented a layered security strategy I refer to as "The Castle Model.” This strategy is an analogy for cybersecurity, where the enclosed structure provides an area that is considered safe and protected as opposed to outside the fortress where you are open to potentially dangerous threats.

The Castle Model strategy is designed just like olden day fortresses, which based their security on very high, strong walls that were challenging if not almost impossible to breach. Limited entry ways often included draw bridges that allowed traffic to move in and out of the structure in a manner that could be both monitored and controlled. This design helped keep the castle's treasure and people located inside safe from any external problems.

Over the past several years the Cybersecurity landscape has continued to evolve and change. The reality of this being with imposing strict controls over movement in and out of the castle comes two significant limitations:

By focusing the majority of your attention on threats coming from outside, a blind spot is created in regards to the movements happening within. Think about the "Trojan Horse" scenario. By distracting the guards' attention with the horse, they unknowingly allowed the troops hidden within to gain access to the area they were supposed to protect.
It does not take into account external threat analysis. For example, what is happening outside the walls may eventually affect those inside. Once again we reflect on the previous scenario. Now that the troops have gained access to the inside through distraction, all of the safety measures put in place to protect the outside from getting in are rendered futile.

An Outside-In, Or Upstream Approach:

Good cybersecurity commanders require a detailed working knowledge of not only potential threats that pose danger from the outside, but also best practices for internal defenses, and what steps to take if the castle walls are indeed breached.

Until recently there were few applications that could provide the kind of prescience needed daily to determine potential threats. Data that has already been compromised internally is also a big issue to be concerned about. Once the troops have accessed the environment inside of the fortress everything you worked so hard to protect is now in their hands. This allows for the perfect storm and data that was once secure can now be sent over the network to competitors or even hackers looking to steal and hold information hostage.

An even bigger challenge today is that very few security tools available look even further outside of the trusted walls, into the wild grasslands and forest areas. This is where the enemy may be amassing troops and plotting a siege or tunneling underground to access the castle internally, bypassing all of the defenses you've put in place.

The picture above illustrates this conceptualization. While the Castle grounds are well protected by the gate, bridge and walls, the true threat comes where there is no visibility. Beyond the protected area into the surrounding hills or in the forests.

The unknown and beyond are the areas that are left defenseless, leading us to why this is exactly where IT predators focus their efforts.

You need to know if any of your external contacts have been adversely affected. This can include but not be limited to suppliers, customers, partners, members, or other subsidiaries.
Could there be any potential unreported cyber threats that could pose an issue to your business or organization?
Are your subsidiary locations, members or suppliers at risk?
Notification of any potential threat in your enrolled named entities is vital for any industry segment.
The ability to have another layer of protection without the need to connect to other networks.
This especially applies to use in your supply chains. That way you can see who is at risk on daily basis and comply with NIST 800-171 standards.
(NIST 800-171 refers to National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-171, which governs Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in Non-Federal Information Systems and Organizations. ... Doing so helps the federal government “successfully carry out its designated missions and business operations.”)
Affordability for small and medium businesses so that the protection needed doesn't outweigh resources and budgetary guidelines.
Cyber threat notification services that send daily emails identifying potential issues to your business.
A single console that manages monitoring threats against your networks and supply chain. That can automatically notify you of any threats in your enrolled named entities pertaining to any industry segment.

Before now we were not aware of any tool that provides all of these key factors and more …

This is where RedXray comes into play.
Welcome the new solution to all the factors presented above.

We’re very excited to have Red Sky Alliance as a member of the NextSTOP Global Partner Exchange. Their threat intelligence platform, RedXray, provides a cyber risk solution that both informs and protects.

Say goodbye to any Trojan Horse worries and rest assured that your castle is well protected. Contact us to find out more details, we're happy to help provide the all-encompassing cybersecurity threat solution your SMB needs.