How to get started with Cybersecurity Automation in 2024

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes a household name in 2024, it presents both an opportunity and a challenge for cybersecurity. Cybercriminals are poised to leverage AI at the forefront of the battlefield, and so should SOC (Security Operations Center) teams need to gear up and stay abreast of the complexities. AI and ML-driven cybersecurity automation is the way ahead for security teams to enhance threat detection, enable faster responses, and build continuous and robust resilience.

According to research by Wakefield, about 80% of organizations plan to increase investment in cybersecurity automation this year. It is an urgent requirement and a forthcoming necessity to ignite security operations reinvention and thrive as a business.

Read on to learn why and how to get started with cybersecurity automation to empower your teams to safeguard critical assets proactively.

What is cybersecurity automation?

Cybersecurity automation is the process of using technological solutions such as AI or Machine Learning to continuously identify and respond to cyber threats with minimal or no human intervention. Cybersecurity automation streamlines largely predictable, mundane tasks and enables faster response to security challenges.

Why do organizations need to automate cybersecurity measures?

Organizations need to automate cybersecurity measures because automation offers greater efficiency, accuracy, and scalability than manual measures. Automation in cyber security can free up resources for strategic and mission-critical tasks.

Here’s why you need to consider cybersecurity automation:

• Agility is paramount in the cyber space and that comes with automated cybersecurity measures. Sophisticated and advanced threats need solid countermeasures. It is only possible to deal with these with smart technological solutions because manual methods can be cumbersome and time-consuming. 
• There is a shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals. According to a report, there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions by 2025. We need technology and automation to fill this gap.
• The attack surface is expanding with increasing cloud services, IoT (Internet of Things) devices, remote work, Bring-your-own-devide policies, and other factors. Security automation platforms can deal with these things by providing a scalable foundation.
• Real-time monitoring and response is imperative to build security maturity and stay compliant in the present-day world. Manual monitoring can lead to inaccuracy, slow detection, and inaction. Cyber security automation puts compliance monitoring on autopilot and continuously detects any vulnerabilities or deviations.

How to get started with cybersecurity automation?

To get started with cybersecurity automation, you must make a list of the key challenges that the organization is currently facing and where automation can be helpful. Start small and implement automation in phases.

Here are 7 steps to get started with cybersecurity automation:

1. Understand current environment

Before establishing your needs, understand the current processes and conduct risk assessments to familiarize yourself with the risk profile. Make a list of the key challenges that the organization is currently facing and where automation can be helpful.

2. Establish use cases

Define your cybersecurity objectives to establish automation use cases. Here are some cybersecurity automation examples:

• To minimize unauthorized access, the organization can implement IAM (identity and access management) solutions with features such as role-based access controls, multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, etc.
• Similarly, if the objective is to secure network infrastructure, the organization can install firewalls, intrusion detection systems, network segmentation measures, etc.

Additionally, it is important to understand that security and compliance are interconnected functions. If you are subject to cybersecurity compliance, using a compliance automation tool like Sprinto can be an enabler in the journey and help you ensure that the controls you’ve built are airtight. Watch Sprinto in action to learn how.

3. Research and choose a provider

Conduct detailed research to choose a vendor that matches the use case and helps you meet your cybersecurity objectives. Take trials and demos and be sure on:

• Ease of use: Make sure the product feels intuitive and has a straightforward UI/UX.
• Flexibility: Look for customization capabilities to ensure the product is flexible and can align with the business context.
• Scalability: Consider scalability to make sure that the product can accommodate your future goals and expansion needs.
• Integration capabilities: Evaluate the integration capabilities and check the product is compatible with common APIs.
• Other features: Browse other feature sets and understand which problems the product solves.
• Costs: Compare costs with competitors and build an ROI case for the product to understand long-term gains or losses.
• Support: Consider availability and support services and search for market reviews about the same.

4. Set up workflows

Once you’ve made the decision, start with the product deployment and get the security teams on board. Set up workflows to automate repetitive tasks along with triggers, frequencies, roles, and conditions to minimize deviations from security objectives.

5. Test and validate

Before you roll out the communication about the new workflows, test them in a controlled environment and evaluate if you can achieve the desired objectives. Also, include any special case testing to be fully assured about the deployment.

6. Implement and track

Next, arrange workforce training to raise awareness about cybersecurity and roll out any updated policies and procedures. Start building a pipeline of controls and establish monitoring mechanisms to track progress. Ensure regular reporting and set performance metrics to compare the results and derive useful insights.

7. Enhance and adjust

Keep iterating and improving based on your monitoring results, evolving threats, and any significant infrastructure changes. Include management reviews and recommendations to update your automation strategy and keep it aligned to ever-changing requirements.

Try Sprinto to streamline your cybersecurity workflows and stay on track. Take the platform tour to know more.

Must check: 8 Best Cybersecurity Automation Tools

Benefits of cybersecurity automation

Cybersecurity automation provides the best long-term return on investment as it eliminates redundancy and makes way for consistent practices throughout the organization. The approach reduces false positives and alert fatigue, enabling  faster responses to security incidents in the organization.

Let’s take a look at the benefits of cybersecurity automation:

1. Enhanced efficiency

Cybersecurity automation frees up the engineering bandwidth by automating routine tasks and making room for strategic activities. It replaces overwhelming manual processes with streamlined operations and enhances the entire team’s efficiency.

2. Reduced human error

Manual work is always prone to human error or oversights and automation helps minimize these risks using machine learning and other algorithms. Automated cybersecurity systems increase the accuracy of operations by adding precision to detection and response activities.

3. Cost savings

Cybersecurity automation saves costs in two ways—one by reducing the need to hire more people for cybersecurity tasks, and second, by proactively responding to threats and minimizing damage caused by security events. It additionally helps maintain continuous compliance and reduces the chances of facing non-compliance ramifications.

4. Scalability

Cybersecurity automation is a scalable solution as your organization expands and deals with a large number of accounts and data. It can help you keep abreast of emerging threats and maintain or enhance security maturity with the organization’s evolving needs.

5. Faster detection and response

Automated cybersecurity systems can continuously monitor the production environment and proactively detect cyber threats and vulnerabilities. These capabilities can minimize the time for initial triage and event resolution, enhancing incident preparedness.

Also, check out: List of cybersecurity certifications

How Sprinto automates cybersecurity 

Sprinto is a cybersecurity automation tool that helps you ensure both security and compliance. It helps you manage risks with precision by building a connected view of controls, automates evidence collection and helps you track things in real-time.

Sprinto can help you automate cybersecurity in the following ways:

1. Policy management

Sprinto has in-built cybersecurity policy templates to eliminate the need for creating them from scratch and provide you with a structured framework to kickstart the process. You can also roll out these security policies across the organization and keep track of acknowledgments with the platform.

2. Regulatory alignment

The platform helps map relevant controls across frameworks so you can kickstart the implementation quickly. It also maps any commonalities across standards so you don’t have to duplicate your efforts. This enables you to get compliant across multiple frameworks with ease. When you ensure compliance, there are minimal chances of security misses.

Read how Nitropack strengthened security with automation and fast-tracked compliance for both SOC 2 and ISO 27001

3. Workflow automation

Sprinto helps streamline workflows by automating repetitive tasks. You can assign them to the relevant personnel and set a frequency for triggers so assignees get automated alerts whenever these are due.

4. Risk management

The compliance automation tool has integrated risk management to help you proactively identify risks and initiate mitigation measures. Sprinto has a comprehensive risk library that enables you to identify applicable risks based on business context and provides you with qualitative risk assessments and mitigation plans for quick response.

5. Integrations

Sprinto supports 200+ integrations with cloud service providers. These range from identity providers and incident management tools to CRMs, HRMS, and more. It enables the platform to run granular-level automated checks and ensure there are no security or compliance drifts.

6. Continuous monitoring

Sprinto facilitates continuous compliance and security monitoring, allowing you to check compliance health reports on the dashboard. In case of any deviation, automated alerts enable proactive response.

7. Audit readiness

Sprinto automates the evidence-collection process and features an independent audit dashboard for easy collaboration with the auditor. It organizes everything centrally and eliminates the need for going back and forth with the auditor for context.

Start automating your cybersecurity operations

As we move towards increasing zero-day vulnerabilities, generative AI, enhanced data privacy laws, and other trends, cybersecurity automation becomes indispensable. Forward-thinking organizations understand that it empowers them with the much-needed agility and helps build resilient organizations.

If you are in a highly regulated industry, Sprinto can help you with security and compliance management without breaking the stride. No matter the size of your business, Sprinto has the tools and support to help you ace cybersecurity. Talk to a compliance expert and get started today 

FAQs

What are the different types of cybersecurity automation tools?

Different types of cybersecurity automation tools include SOAR (Security, Orchestration, Automation and Response) platforms, SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) systems, vulnerability management tools, network security tools, cybersecurity compliance automation platforms etc.

How can organizations measure the effectiveness of cybersecurity automation?

Organizations can measure the effectiveness of cybersecurity automation by establishing and tracking a wide range of KPIs such as incident response rate, mean time to detect, patching cadence, training completion rates and more.

What is the difference between automation and orchestration?

Automation focuses on removing manual effort from individual tasks such as an automated vulnerability scan in networks. Security orchestration on the other hand coordinates multiple tools and automated tasks and thereby streamlines end-to-end security operations.