In 2020, the statistics that shaped security were heavily influenced by the global pandemic. Phishing accounted for more than 32% of breaches1 , 94% of malware entered systems via email2 , and of the 11, 000 vulnerabilities listed on the CVE database3 , around 34% have no available patches4 . The risks are rising, especially as the threat actors continue to expand their skillsets, reach and repertoires. Cybercriminals aren’t lone wolves hiding in basements anymore. They’re connected to organised crime, to state-backed attacks, and to advanced persistent threat (APT) groups that leverage access for political or economic reasons. They’re motivated and smart, which makes them a dangerous and persistent threat to the organisation.

“Defending against cybercriminals is a complex, ever-evolving, and never-ending challenge. But knowledge is power.” – Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2020.

But it is not just the firewalls and the anti-malware systems and the software-defined security walls that provide the organisation with protection. Today, it is also the data, the analytics and the intelligent insights gleaned from the endless attacks and countermoves made by cybercrime. These stories told by the data provide the information that the organisation and expert need to make intelligent choices about ongoing security and systems.

Context is key. It shows the organisation what it can do with its data. It is the foundation of the story that will help the organisation realise value. It is the use case, the alert, the hidden nugget of information that pulls the data touchpoints together into a cohesive story that reveals the organisation’s true security posture. Context is unique to your business. It is the telling of the right story. And it is the unpacking of insights and data that may have been hidden behind silos and forgotten in datasets. This context is ultimately what turns your security investment into security transformation.

Unpack context and value in this whitepaper from Atvance Intellect.