Let‘s face it: Cybersecurity teams are overwhelmed with work. There simply is not enough time in the day to perform all the high-value tasks they are responsible for, such as consulting with project teams, conducting risk analyses and developing strategic security plans. To make matters worse, security teams often find themselves consumed with time-sensitive and repetitive operational work. Anything they can do to reduce this burden increases their ability to add value to the organization.

Automation has the potential to help with this heavy lifting. Any time security teams find themselves performing work that requires following a repetitive process, it is likely that automation can play an important role in reducing the operational burden. In our work with CDW customers, we have found a few common areas where automation can help increase the efficiency and effectiveness of cybersecurity teams. Let’s look at a few examples.

In my work with CDW customers, I often come across technology leaders who want to improve their cybersecurity posture but aren’t really sure where to start. They might recognize that their organizations need to improve their cybersecurity controls but don’t know where their investments will pay off the most.

When I hear concerns like this, I immediately look to the Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). While there are many different cybersecurity standards out there, I prefer this one because it uses plain language to describe the five most important activities in cybersecurity. I’d like to walk you through this framework using two different examples.

As the technical lead for the incident response (IR) team at CDW, I see quite a few attacks that occur against organizations, with the most prevalent including phishing (most often leading to credential theft), advanced malware and ransomware. Ransomware is typically the most destructive for organizations that have not prepared or planned for this type…

Anti-virus tools have been a foundational part of cybersecurity programs for years. For many organizations, they’ve been must-have tools to protect against constant malware attacks. But as cybercriminals have evolved, becoming more organized and more sophisticated, anti-virus tools have been challenged to keep up. Next-generation endpoint protection solutions have emerged as valuable tools for defending…

Automation, along with terms like artificial intelligence, machine learning and threat intelligence are common buzzwords that you will hear or read about when you are following industry trends. When it comes to security, we don’t typically lump automation in with these other terms. But, in fact, automation can help you respond to threats and increase…