30 Resources to Help CISOs Protect Their Organizations From Breaches

On average, it takes 212 days to detect a breach, which means that a breach could occur in January and not be discovered until July. To be better prepared to detect and protect against attacks, CISOs need to be proactive in running their security operations center (SOC). To help CISOs in this effort, we’ve compiled 30 of our latest resources that provide advice and guidance on how to best protect their organization. Additionally, we’ve included some general advice from other CISOs.

In this article:

• Effective threat detection, investigation, and response (TDIR)
• User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA)
• The New CISO Podcast — read and listen
• How Exabeam can help
• Exabeam outperforms the competition

Effective threat detection, investigation, and response (TDIR)

1. Organizational Downsizing and Insider Threats: Detecting the Undetectable to Reduce Risk | Blog post

Early in 2022, many organizations went on a hiring spree and now the recent economic downturn has led to an uptick in companies downsizing. Past history has shown that downsizing increases the organizational risk companies face from impacted employees and the data and IP they have access to. CISOs need to educate their organizations on the risk of insider threats all the way to the board level to get buy-in for the programs and necessary budget to address these threats. Learn the challenges of detecting insider threats, how Exabeam helps triage, detect, investigate, and resolve insider threats, and data leak activity to watch for. 

2. A CISO’s Guide to Adversary Alignment | White paper

“Are we secure?” Executives and board members always want the answer to be “yes,” but CISOs know it’s irresponsible to make such a blanket statement. An adversary could be any potential threat — whether external or internal, intentional or unintentional. So, the question CISOs should be answering is: “Are we adversary-aligned?” Download this white paper to learn how your people, processes, and tools can be adversary-aligned, and the benefits of doing so.

3. The Ultimate Guide to Insider Threats | eBook 

The biggest threats to your organization are your own employees, contractors, and other insiders. These trusted insiders have authorized access to sensitive information and can cause significant harm to your organization, whether they mean to or not. Insider threats are a growing concern for organizations worldwide, and it’s essential to understand the risks they pose and how to defend against them. That’s why we’ve created this comprehensive eBook to help you better understand what insider threats are and how to protect your organization from them.

4. 4 Requirements for Building a Successful Insider Threat Team | Blog post

Sometimes, having a security operations center (SOC) isn’t enough to address insider threats. Security operations teams are managing massive amounts of data across billions of events from on-premises and the cloud, but detecting insider threats has special requirements that encompass both searching historical data and seeing evolving credential behavior changes as they happen. 

5. Insider Threats: When the Attacker Has Valid Credentials | Guide

Insider threats can have a devastating impact on your organization. In fact, the average cost of an insider attack averages a staggering $15.4 million per incident. But what do you do when the attacker has valid credentials? How do you detect and prevent threats from compromised, malicious, or negligent insiders? We’ve created a comprehensive resource that details three steps to combat insider threats. 

6. 7 Best Practices for Secure Enterprise Log Management | Guide

Log management is fundamental to enterprise cybersecurity, but many log management solutions are out-of-date or were never intended to address today’s security challenges in cloud and hybrid environments. Organizations need to quickly identify and resolve incidents from vast log repositories, discovering threats that impact organizational security as well as compliance mandates. This guide presents seven best practice requirements for secure enterprise log management to make log data at scale actionable so organizations can quickly address these issues. 

7. Are Systems Integrators Pricey? Not If You Consider How They Reduce Costs Long Term | Blog post

As a security executive, you are inundated with a daily onslaught of risks and threats to your organization amidst layoffs, organizational budget cuts, geopolitical challenges, and a general shortage of cybersecurity resources. The best technology is critical for addressing these challenges, but perhaps just as importantly, organizations should leverage trusted advisors to help prepare for when something happens, and to avoid hidden costs to the organization in the future. Learn who these trusted advisors are, why this is important for an insider threat program, what we typically consider for the price tag, and what we should consider for the price tag. 

User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA)

8. Using Behavior Analytics to Stave Off Compromised Credential Attacks | Webinar 

Millions are spent on security operations centers on tools, processes, and people. Yet, we still have million-dollar problems, often due to an efficacy gap or a lack of adversary alignment. Compromised credentials are involved in more than 90 percent of breaches. How can security operations address this? This webinar will address the challenges associated with compromised credentials and discuss some of the steps organizations can take to improve their detection and response.

9. 8 Key Functions to Prevent Data Loss with User and Entity Behavior Analytics | White paper

As organizations continue to rely on digital technologies to store and share sensitive information, the threat of data loss has become a major concern. Traditional Data Loss Protection (DLP) solutions can be effective at fingerprinting and identifying sensitive information, but they often lack the context required to evaluate user behavior and can suffer from false positives.

User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) can provide the missing context, by focusing on the user handling the data, rather than just the data itself. By combining DLP and UEBA, organizations can improve their analysis of the interaction between users and sensitive data, and prevent data loss in eight key use cases.

10. The What and How of Evaluating UEBA Under the Hood | Blog post

Why do we bother with UEBA in the first place? 93% of breaches are due to compromised credentials. For such insider threats, there is no other alternative to UEBA. While threat prevention technologies are a necessary component of enterprise security, companies are recognizing that UEBA detection tools are an integral part of security defense. Read the blog to learn about the three dimensions to consider when evaluating UEBA solutions. 

11. Building a UEBA Risk Engine  | Blog post

UEBA technology is the confluence of advancements in data infrastructure, security knowledge, and algorithms. Each of these areas relates to anomaly detection and event scoring — the output of a UEBA engine. This article shows the technical and knowledge components that make UEBA possible.

The New CISO Podcast — read and listen

12. Solving Security Puzzles

Kevin DeLange, VP and CISO of IGT, talks about how his love of problem solving led him to a career in cybersecurity. Serving in the U.S. Army was Kevin’s entry point into the world of security. After completing his service, he earned a degree in Anthropology. “This was a discipline that really allowed me to define a paradigm and solve an issue,” says Kevin. “That’s what security’s all about. You’re faced with a puzzle and you have to solve that puzzle.” 

13. Trusting Your Tech to Tackle Human Problems

Dr. Adrian Mayers, VP and CISO at Premera Blue Cross, discusses what to consider when interviewing for CISO positions and how to trust your tech in the security field. Since fifth grade, Dr. Mayers has had a passion for computers. Now a CISO, he shares the role computers play in a security professional’s everyday life. Learn about Dr. Mayers’ top leadership qualities, advice for aspiring CISOs, the relationship between human behavior and tech, and his thoughts on the transition to automation.

14. Train the Way You Fight, Fight the Way You Train

Dr. Mayers delves into his knowledge of insider threat management and intelligence. As an experienced CISO, Dr. Mayers understands the difficulties of a cybersecurity career. With this in mind, he shares the day-to-day obstacles of the profession and what aspiring CISOs can expect from the job. 

15. Landing a Seat in the C-Suite

Mike Woodson, Director of Information Security and Privacy at Sonesta International Hotel Corporation, explores the risks and rewards of being a CISO. Starting out in law enforcement and cybercrime investigation, Mike now applies his police mindset to cybersecurity leadership. With his varied experiences in mind, he shares how his unique background makes him a well-equipped CISO.

16. Leading with a Military Mindset – It’s “We,” Not “Me”

Steve Magowan, Vice President of Cybersecurity at BlackBerry, considers how military teachings apply to tech. First starting his career in the Air Force, Steve Magowan understands how the military mindset can make you an asset in the security field.

17. Success After CISO – How to Become Your Own Boss

Aaron Bailey, CISO and co-founder of The Missing Link, dissects what it takes to start your own security business. A technology native, Aaron explains how he started in cybersecurity, working his way up from entry-level positions. After high school, Aaron struggled to find a job. He finally got hired at a computer shop, which launched his career. Through explaining his professional journey, Aaron shares the benefits and difficulties of being a cybersecurity founder. 

18. Broad Knowledge is Power — Building a Better Security Team

Bryan Willett, CSO of Lexmark International, Inc., talks about the significance of collaboration and team building in the CISO role. With more than 25 years of experience, Bryan possesses a deep understanding of the CISO role and the ways in which to support a team. He shares his insights on how CISOs can continue to grow and develop their skills once they reach this level.

How Exabeam can help 

19. Exabeam Alert Triage with Dynamic Alert Prioritization Now Available in Exabeam Fusion and Exabeam Security Investigation | Blog post

Alert triage is the process of investigating security alerts to determine the potential threat they pose to an organization. Alerts deemed significant are escalated to incident response teams for further review, while alerts that appear insignificant are dismissed. Determining the alerts that matter can be difficult when you are overwhelmed by thousands of alerts with no context. How do you decide which alerts pose a threat to your organization and which are insignificant?

20. Exabeam Security Log Management — Because Security Operations Isn’t IT Operations | Blog post

The responsibility of protecting companies from motivated adversaries lies with CISOs and security professionals, not IT admins and site reliability engineers. However, security teams are often asked to detect and investigate threats using IT log management tools that are primarily designed for troubleshooting bugs and uploading log bundles to support tickets. While many log management solutions have been adapted for security buyers, they are essentially IT operations/observability tools. Exabeam has addressed this gap with a new category: Security Log Management, a cloud-native log management solution specifically built to meet the needs of security professionals. 

21. New-Scale SIEM Brings Powerful Behavioral Analytics and Automated Investigation to Threat Detection, Investigation, and Response | Blog post

CISOs and security professionals need a new approach to cybersecurity. Exabeam built New-Scale SIEM^TM to solve the numerous challenges and limitations of legacy SIEM and to provide security operations teams breakthrough capabilities to detect and respond to a wide range of threats. This blog post focuses on powerful behavioral analytics and automated investigation — two pillars of New-Scale SIEM — and how Exabeam can bring analytics and automation to the security operations center (SOC) to scale the TDIR capabilities of any organization.

22. Overview of Exabeam SIEM and Security Analytics Product Innovations | Blog post

Jeannie Warner, Director of Product Marketing, highlighted how Exabeam’s purpose-built approach for security helps organizations during our recent webinar titled “Overview of Exabeam SIEM and Security Analytics Product Innovations.” Following the presentation, Senior Director of Product Management, Andy Skrei, provided a demo of our products. In this blog post, we summarize the key takeaways from the webinar.

23. How to Build an Insider Threat Program with Exabeam | Webinar

In this webinar, you will learn four common scenarios where you need an insider threat team, how to build a mission statement and tools, four attributes of a successful insider threat program, how behavioral analytics baseline “normal” behavior of users and devices — showing risk faster, and about automated investigation experience that automates manual routines and guides new insider threat teams. 

24. How Does Exabeam Improve Your Security Environment? | Blog post

The blog post discusses the operational risks that information security practitioners face due to unpreparedness and unknown threats. These threats often result in stress and burnout for security analysts and managers. Correlation rules can help detect known threats, but automating the process of detecting abnormal network activity can help cover gaps for unknown threats. The post focuses on the lesser-known benefits of UEBA and includes a timeline of chronologically correlated security vendor events.

25. How Exabeam Can Help Drive Value With APIs | Blog 

This blog post explores how new technologies can enhance existing processes but may also result in fragmented workflows. APIs offer a solution to integrate technologies, accelerate innovation, and enhance the overall experience, such as automatically transmitting search results from a SIEM to an external central ticketing system. We provide insights and guidance to help you drive value from APIs with your Exabeam solution.

Exabeam outperforms the competition

26. 5 Ways Exabeam Delivers Better Security Outcomes Than Microsoft Sentinel | Blog post

SIEM helps organizations quickly and effectively detect, investigate, and respond to security threats. But not all SIEMs are created equal. Microsoft Sentinel is popular, but Exabeam may be an optimal choice. Jeannie Warner gives five reasons why.

27. Navigating the SIEM Landscape: How to Recognize and Counter Vendor Gimmicks | Blog post

Frustrated with the endless games and deceptive tricks security information and event management (SIEM) vendors play? It’s time to gain the upper hand and make informed decisions. That’s why we’ve decided to launch a series of blog posts aimed at educating you on how to recognize and effectively counter vendor gimmicks. Our goal is to provide valuable insights and information to help you make the best choices for your organization’s security needs. Join us as we explore the often murky world of SIEM vendors and arm you with the knowledge to choose wisely. 

28. The Games SIEM Vendors Play: Pricing and Scalability | Blog post

In this three-part blog series, we will be diving into the different tactics and strategies that vendors use to entice customers into purchasing their products. SIEM is an essential component of an organization’s cybersecurity strategy, providing real-time visibility into security-related data from various sources, such as network devices, servers, and applications. But when it comes to selecting a SIEM vendor, organizations often find themselves navigating a complex landscape of features, pricing models, and marketing claims. In this post, we will explore two games that SIEM vendors play with words, and discuss how you can make informed decisions when choosing a SIEM solution.

29. The Games SIEM Vendors Play: Public Cloud and User Security | Blog post

When it comes to selecting a SIEM, one of the most important considerations is the security of the system itself. This includes both the security of the public cloud or virtual compute environment where the SIEM is hosted, as well as the security of local and remote users who will be accessing the system. Vendors sometimes promote virtual compute as a way to reduce costs and improve scalability. But buyer beware: virtual compute can introduce new vulnerabilities, such as those arising from shared resources and network configurations.

30. The Games SIEM Vendors Play: Statistics vs. Machine Learning and Malware vs. Compromised Credential Detection | Blog post

In the third and final post of this series, we discuss tactics around machine learning and the detection of malware and compromised credentials. When it comes to purchasing a SIEM solution, one of the key considerations is how well it can detect and respond to cybersecurity threats. In the past, SIEM solutions relied heavily on statistics and rule-based algorithms to detect anomalies and suspicious activity. However, advancements in machine learning have enabled these techniques to be incorporated into SIEM solutions, leading to improved detection capabilities.

With the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks, CISOs need to be vigilant in protecting their organizations from data breaches. By running their SOC proactively and leveraging the latest resources and guidance, CISOs can stay ahead of potential threats and safeguard their valuable data. We hope that the resources and advice provided in this article will help you strengthen your organization’s cybersecurity posture.

Want to learn more about SIEM solutions?

Register for our upcoming webinar, Not all SIEMs are Created Equal.

Are you struggling to find a reliable SIEM solution? Exabeam offers a purpose-built solution that simplifies security investigations and helps teams detect intrusions and malicious activity. With simple search interfaces, context-enhanced parsing, and data visualization, Exabeam can cut security task time by 51%. 

Exabeam also offers UEBA and SIEM capabilities in the same interface with cloud-native innovation, advanced analytics capabilities, and improved threat detection and response. Join our webinar to learn how Exabeam provides better security outcomes than other traditional SIEMs such as Splunk. 

You will learn:

• How Exabeam helps organizations combat evolving cyberthreats with Smart Timelines^TM and security tactics
• Ways in which Exabeam delivers better security outcomes with automation to reduce time spent on security tasks, ease of use without the need for specialized skills, robust behavioral models and visualization strengths, advanced analytics, and threat hunting capabilities, and more
• How Exabeam can help organizations improve their security posture and see a faster return on investment

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn about a Next-gen SIEM solution. Register now and discover how Exabeam can make your security operations more efficient and effective.