Cybersecurity threats grow relentlessly and more sophisticated each day. As such, creating strong security mechanisms is essential for any organization. Deploying an active defense strategy empowers businesses to detect and actively engage with these threats. Implementing its practices daily will enhance your overall security and help you build a more proactive cybersecurity posture.
What Is Active Defense?
Active defense is a set of cybersecurity measures and strategies brands use to detect, counter and mitigate threats. Unlike passive defense — which focuses on fortifying systems and waiting for attacks to occur — active defense involves continuous monitoring. It’s an approach that engages with the threat environment to anticipate attacks and respond as they happen.
It essentially allows an enterprise to “fight back” against attacks in a controlled and measured way. The strategies include various methods, from setting up decoys to conducting offensive countermeasures. Actively seeking out and neutralizing threats reduces the risk of damage. It also ensures you maintain control over the security landscape.
Deploying an Active Defense Strategy
An active defense strategy can be the key to keeping threats at bay, but it’s essential to deploy certain techniques to make it effective.
1. Set Up High–Priority Alerts
Businesses often find themselves surrounded by thousands of critical notifications every day. Research shows companies receive an average of 16,937 weekly alerts, yet they only investigate 4% of them. This overwhelming volume can lead to alert fatigue and may cause them to overlook critical warnings. In fact, a 2021 study found 51% of internet security leaders felt their teams were overwhelmed by the alert volumes received.
In an active defense strategy, it helps to set up high-priority alerts by determining where to focus monitoring efforts. Define what constitutes a critical situation based on impact and likelihood. For example, you could establish alerts based on certain triggers like access attempts to sensitive data or anomalies in inbound traffic. Use security tools incorporating AI and machine learning to detect and prioritize notifications better.
2. Implement IDS and SIEM
Intrusion detection systems (IDS) and security information and event management (SIEM) are critical to an active defense strategy. Each plays a unique role in keeping IT environments safe.
Companies use IDS to monitor networks and systems for malicious activities. An IDS functions by analyzing traffic and identifying suspicious patterns. On the other hand, SIEM provides a more holistic view of information security. These systems work by aggregating and analyzing log data to identify anomalies, track security events and issue alerts.
Using IDS and SIEM is beneficial because each complements one another. While IDS is excellent at detecting anomalies, it operates in isolation and generates alerts that lack context. SIEM helps you understand these alerts by correlating them with other logged events. As such, you gain a clearer picture of what’s happening, reducing the likelihood of false positives.
3. Engage in Threat Hunting
Threat hunting is a proactive security practice where teams actively search for signs of malicious activity. Traditional measures rely on automated alerts, but threat hunting involves human-driven initiatives aimed at discovering stealthy threats.
Threat hunting typically begins with a hypothesis based on observed anomalies and recent cyber threat reports. This way, the threat hunters know what behaviors and patterns to look for. Equip your team with analytics tools, endpoint detection and response systems for detailed data collection.
During the hunt, gather data from the network and systems to look for discrepancies that match the threat hypothesis. This involves analyzing activities such as irregular network traffic or anomalies in account activities. Threat hunting is an iterative process, but each deep dive can provide new insights.
4. Use Deception Technologies
Deception technology leverages decoys and false information to mislead attackers and protect sensitive data. This strategy involves setting up systems that appear vulnerable and attractive to attackers, including honeypots, honeynets and decoy databases. When attackers interact with these, they unknowingly reveal their methods, providing intelligence and notifications to security teams.
Deception technology requires careful planning and precise implementation to ensure the decoys are indistinguishable from real systems. That way, it diverts attackers from your real assets and teaches you ways to improve security measures.
Each method is a proactive way to detect attacks early. They also assist in preparing much stronger defenses against future threats. Consider it as a feedback tool as you continue engaging with it to help you refine your defenses as a result.
5. Conduct Regular Penetration Testing and Red Teaming
Penetration testing and red teaming involve simulating cyber-attacks to test security systems and protocols. The former focuses on identifying vulnerabilities, often using automated tools to scan for weaknesses. Red teaming takes this further by simulating a full-scale attack using the same tactics as real-world attackers.
Both methods help you understand how your defenses would stand up under pressure. When conducting penetration testing, you can implement it frequently on more specific systems. Meanwhile, red team exercises should be less frequent and more comprehensive.
Utilizing both activities is critical to testing the technical barriers and the human elements of security. Routine challenges test your security measures to discover gaps in defenses and improve them. Regular reviews and updates following these trials guarantee positive changes in defense strategies, helping you maintain strong protective measures against attackers.
Deploy Active Defense Successfully
Deploying active defense is crucial for staying ahead in today’s ever-evolving threat landscape. Its strategies help you identify and mitigate threats before they become a danger to an organization. As such, regularly incorporating them into your cybersecurity tactics will help you remain robust and adaptive.
