Defeating Zombies
Attackers have a number of avenues leading directly into your network, and more importantly, into your data. Each week I read about new data losses, phishing scams and the release of hundreds of new vulnerabilities and exploits. Organizations are employing a rear guard action that is not necessarily tuned to today's attack techniques.
Tried and true defensive measures such as firewalls, anti-virus software, Intrusion Detection Systems provide "operational security", but even if this is running flawlessly, it is typically not enough. Security programs need to evolve with the latest attack trends and Internet technologies. A great blog post by Tim Mugherini titled, "Don't be the Smelly Kid" sums this up nicely. This defines a shift from attackers targeting network services, and moving towards attacking web application and client software. These new methods require updated education for management and the implemention of new and different security projects to protect your infrastructure.
Considering Halloween is around the corner, your security strategy can be compared to the situations in typical horror movies. When the defenseless victims are under attack from whatever threat is posed (zombies, Jason, Freddy, Michael Meyers, etc.), they often make common mistakes such as taking all of the furniture in the room and piling it in front of the door and leaving the windows unsecured. Shooting zombies in any other location other than the head is another good example (those who have read "The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead" know that the only way to destroy a zombie is to destroy the brain!).