Continuous Evaluation in Adaptive Security: What does it mean and why is it so important?
 

The concept of Continuous Evaluation in Adaptive Security (perhaps better known by its English name, Continuous Adaptive Security Assessment) is a cybersecurity strategy that has already demonstrated why it leads and to what extent it is indispensable at every level of the economic and financial activity that surrounds us.

Clearly, what is known as a “posthumous strategy” (that is to say, what we do or implement after a threat has wreaked havoc on our systems) has already proven its ineffectiveness. The reality is that there are irreparable damages that have caused enough losses and headaches for specialists in the field to think about preventive solutions.

In this context, the concept of Adaptive Security arises at various levels, as we will see below, with perhaps the most important being the first: continuous evaluation and detection of potential threats or risks. The reasoning is simple: if detected in time, and with protection and problem-solving strategies designed or planned, significant losses will likely be avoided. Now, in the Continuous Adaptive Security Assessment concept, it is clear that the key words are two: “Continuous” (continual) and “Adaptive,” and the reason is easy to understand: all activity must be monitored all the time (continually), and systems must adapt to new threats and types of viruses and hacks that constantly emerge.

So, summarizing ideas: Adaptive security is based on the real-time monitoring of a network’s security, which continuously and carefully analyzes it to identify anomalies, malicious traffic, and vulnerabilities. If a threat is detected, the platform must be capable of automatically implementing different security countermeasures. For example, some of them are:

• Preventive Actions: Preventive capabilities allow companies to create products, processes, and policies to counteract cyberattacks.
• Detection Actions: The level of adaptive security detection identifies attacks that are not intercepted by the preventive method. The goal is to reduce the time spent detecting threats and prevent potential risks from becoming real risks.
• Retrospective Analysis: This layer goes even deeper… and seeks to find threats that the previous layer did not detect. During retrospective analysis, “forensic” information is generated, which can be used to prevent future incidents.
• Predictive Strategies: These processes, known as the predictive layer, provide IT teams with alerts about external events. How? By monitoring the activity of hackers, trying to anticipate new types of attacks and providing useful information to further improve detection and prevention actions.

In conclusion: there is no need to insist with more arguments. Just imagining an attack on our data (regardless of the size of our company, venture, or organization) and the negative impact this would cause prompts us to react and seriously consider seeking advice to quickly implement Continuous Adaptive Security Assessment. Let’s not fall asleep…