Cloud technology in business requires security practitioners to change the way they think and behave as the challenge is across multi-clouds and multi-environments, IBM executive Anthony Aurigemma says. A solution to the problem of fragmented solutions can be found in an open security environment with interoperability and community-led innovation
Today's cyber security challenges necessitate a next-generation, multicloud-capable, open platform where users can access all of their data and all of their security, a senior IBM executive says.
In a speech at the Cybertech Global 2020 conference, Anthony Aurigemma, vice president of IBM Security Europe, said there is a challenge of "how we leverage the technology available to us today to improve what we do as security practitioners, and then how we come together as a community, people who share a common mission to make our world safer and more secure."
"I think all of us can see what's happening in our environment, the power of the hybrid cloud world and what that's doing in terms of applications, services and everyday living that we go through"
He said we are in an environment with a "fragmented set of solutions that don't know how to talk to each other easily, that don't connect all the tools we've got, that give us lots of data but not necessarily a lot of insights."
According to Aurigemma, each major enterprise has an average of over 80 security tools from 40 different vendors, and it's a tremendous task to leverage 80 different tools to take action as needed and at the required speed in a real time environment. There isn't enough staff to deal with it either, he said.
But he said a solution can be found in an open security environment with interoperability and community-led innovation. IBM is trying to foster collaboration, and in 2019 it founded the open cyber security alliance, an open community to establish standards of data and interoperability.
And in November last year the company announced its cloud pak for security.
"Through the technology in this platform you don't have to move the data. We can connect the data, teach it a common language and then enable you to access it. So we do that through a federated search capability in this platform that lets you search all the data without moving it. That creates speed and efficiency, and economy," he said.
According to IBM, the platform integrates existing security tools to generate deeper insights into threats, orchestrate and automate responses, while leaving your data where it is.
He said the cloud pak also enables users to connect all workflows, boosting detection and response capabilities, which enables the team to work faster.
"Right now we've got about 50 solutions, we're adding many new solutions every month. We think this is the way to get everyone working together on a common set of data and common language to connect all of us."
In conclusion he praised IBM's partnership with Israel, saying "For us, betting on cyber security is betting on Israel." Citing the over 500 employees doing research in the country for the QRadar, Guardium and Trusteer projects, among others, he said "We made our bet on Israel and we won big."
