Agile Security – For the Real World

It’s pretty safe to say that 2011 is shaping up to be one of the most damaging – and embarrassing – years for IT security. Information for 100s of millions of individuals may have been compromised at commercial and consumer technology giants. Even some security vendors have been exposed.

Frankly, this shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. The rate of change in IT environments is unprecedented and existing network and security technologies were built for a different time. Think about the number of devices, users, applications and systems that connect to our infrastructure every day. Sometimes we know about them, sometimes we don’t. It’s next to impossible to protect something when you don’t even know it’s there.

Attacks are changing just as rapidly. There were nearly 300 million new pieces of malware observed in 2010, and data gathered by our researchers indicates nearly 75 percent of these attacks were only ever seen on a single system. They last a few hours and quickly morph into another version of the same core threat.

Most of today’s security solutions simply can’t keep up with continuous, rapid change. These solutions were designed when IT environments were stable and slow to change, not for the real world we live in today.

The real world is complex and chaotic. In the real world threats are unknown and unexpected. In the real world, unpredictable changes in our IT environments constantly throw us into unfamiliar situations. In the real world, IT teams don’t always have the time and expertise they need to protect their assets.

We cannot always adequately prepare for uncertainty. However, we can be agile. Change is inevitable. But agility enables us to quickly and effectively respond to that change.

Sourcefire believes that you can build a holistic security system – from the network to the endpoint – that is as dynamic as the real world it protects and the attackers it defends against.

We call this vision "Agile Security."

More than a vision, Agile Security is a continuous process that includes four key tenets:

• First, you must be able to accurately SEE what’s happening in your environment, right now.
• Second, you must be able to apply intelligence so that you can LEARN to make better decisions.
• Third, you must be able to easily and automatically ADAPT your defenses to the current reality.
• Fourth, you must be able to ACT decisively and flexibly, in real time.

Sourcefire provides the most agile security solutions available on the planet. The combination of unprecedented visibility and awareness, the industry’s most accurate detection, and powerful automation and integration creates a security solution that dynamically protects our customers and their constantly changing environments. Sourcefire solutions secure the entire enterprise, from the network to the endpoint. With a single console view, you get the insight and information you need to gauge the security status of the entire organization, get ahead of incidents, and block threats.

Over the coming months you’ll hear more about Agile Security and how countless Sourcefire customers, in some of the most demanding computing environments in the world, have demonstrated how they have benefited from the realization of Agile Security. You’ll also learn about some exciting new solutions that expand our portfolio of agile security solutions and carry our vision further.

It’s time to change the way we approach security. It’s time to become agile.