The recent CISO Series podcast from David Sparks brought to light a lot of really interesting points about incident response and the challenges that lay ahead of companies. It reveals that even seasoned organizations struggle to effectively manage security breaches.
David, Steve, and Amir highlighted the evolving nature of threats and the increasing pressure on security teams to respond rapidly. What wasn’t surprising was the emphasis on the importance of transparency, both internally and externally, as a cornerstone of effective incident response. It underscores the need for a comprehensive security strategy that encompasses prevention, detection, and response.
It should come as no surprise given the role that I play within the cyber security space here at Vorlon, that I was most intrigued about the growing challenge of third-party API security. The discussion centered around highlighting the need for visibility and control over these external connections to mitigate risks.
Much like Amir’s background as he described it during the podcast I have a background in SOAR as well. Automation emerges as a key topic, acknowledging its potential to streamline incident response processes. However, the conversation also emphasizes the limitations of automation, stressing the continued need for human judgment and decision-making.
If I summarize the podcast into five points I would break it down into these main areas:
Visibility into third-party applications: Organizations lack understanding of what third-party applications have access to their data and how that data is being used. They need to look beyond the applications and API’s that they publish, and more about the ones they consume as a company.
Control over API access: Companies don't have enough control over who is accessing their APIs and from where. As Amir states, “companies need to control their own destiny” when it comes to third-party applications.
Proactive threat detection and response: Traditional security solutions are not effective at detecting and responding to threats related to third-party APIs. Having visibility into third-party applications and the data they’re accessing allows immediate action after gathering information.
Importance of data-centric security: The shift to a data-centric security model has exposed new vulnerabilities as more data is directly accessed by third-party applications. This aligns with Steve's point about the transition to a data-centric model creating bigger challenges for third-party risk management.
API communication bypassing traditional security controls: API communication often bypasses traditional security measures like firewalls and web application proxies, making it more difficult to monitor and control.
Want to learn more about your third-party risks and what the Vorlon platform can do to help your organization? Through a Risk Observation Report, Vorlon will observe your chosen application and provide you with an overall risk rating, connectivity map, summary of our findings, insights, and recommendations.
