Tips to optimize IT security costs
Day by day, cyber-attacks on servers and networks are rising. IT heads and security admins have a tough time catching up with these sophisticated attacks. As with traditional security mechanisms, IT security personnel focus on building layers of defenses to keep unwanted people at bay. In this blog, I will share some tips on how you can optimize your IT security costs.
1. Evaluate open source alternatives
If you have a good IT team who wants to learn and experiment on new technologies then it makes sense in spending some time on open source alternatives. Such alternatives are available for each and every security layer. Be it Firewall, VPN, Intrusion Detection System (IDS), Intrusion Protection System (IPS), Honeypot, Log analyzer, Antivirus, VAPT tool etc. In one of my previous jobs, we had connected two internal offices using an open source firewall named Endian, that too using an old desktop having a PIV processor (Please don’t ask me what is a PIV processor).
2. Choose correctly
They say that God is in the details. While buying your security solutions, check what the solution can do and what it cannot. Also, check the specifications minutely. Once, we had ordered a firewall for a website which faced huge number of hits. The firewall choke because the “connections / second” parameter was adequate, but the “new concurrent connections / second” parameter was inadequate. We had to return the firewall and buy a better one.
3. Seek advice from experts
With so many security solutions out there, identifying which solution is the right fit for my requirement needs years of experience and skill. Experts can provide advice not only on solutions but also about its cost effectiveness. I see many organisations end up buying security products which are not at all necessary for their security requirements.
These are general tips for saving your IT security costs.
If you have any other ideas, please do share them with me. Also, you can connect with me for a free security assessment.
