Author: Nicholas M. Hughes

Ladies and gentlemen gather round, for I have a tale to tell. A tale of woe and despair, of firewalls and phishing scams. But fear not, for there is a solution to this never-ending cycle of cybersecurity woes. And that solution, my friends, is automation.

Oh No! Robots!

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Automation? But that’s for robots and factories, not for keeping my company’s sensitive information safe!” And I get it, I really do. But hear me out. Think about it – in the current digital age, the number of cyber threats is increasing at an alarming rate. Every day, new vulnerabilities are discovered, and new strains of malware are released into the wild. And it’s not just the volume of threats that’s a problem, it’s the complexity. These cybercriminals are getting smarter and more sophisticated, and it’s becoming harder and harder to keep up.

So, what do you do? Hire more cybersecurity experts? Sure, that’ll work, if you have unlimited funds and a bottomless pit of job applicants. But most companies don’t have that luxury. What’s the alternative, then? Automation.

But Robots Are Our Friends

With automation, you can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your cybersecurity processes. Automated systems can identify and respond to threats faster than humanly possible. They can also reduce the risk of human error, which is a real concern in any industry.

Automated systems can be programmed to follow specific protocols, ensuring tasks are completed consistently and correctly. This reduces the risk of mistakes that could lead to a security breach. Plus, automation helps you keep pace with the ever-increasing volume and complexity of cyber threats. That’s what makes vulnerability management and incident response such great areas to automate – nobody wants to classify and prioritize thousands of vulnerabilities across a large enterprise.

But it’s not just about keeping up with the bad guys; automation can also help you keep up with the good guys. I’m talking about compliance with cybersecurity regulations and standards. Automated compliance management systems can help ensure that your company is meeting all the requirements and staying on the right side of the law. Automated systems can be programmed to monitor and report on compliance with specific regulations, such as HIPAA or PCI-DSS. This can help companies avoid hefty fines and penalties for non-compliance.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “But wait, if we automate our cybersecurity, won’t that put our cybersecurity experts out of a job?” And the answer is no! Automation is not here to replace human expertise, but to augment it. By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, cybersecurity experts can focus on more strategic tasks and make better use of their skills and knowledge.

Robot Hugs FTW

At the end of the day, if you want to stay competitive in the cybersecurity game, automation is a must. It can help you improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your cybersecurity processes, reduce the risk of human error, keep pace with the increasing volume and complexity of cyber threats, and stay compliant with regulations and standards. And it doesn’t replace human expertise, it enhances it. So, don’t be afraid to embrace automation in your cybersecurity strategy. It just might be the key to keeping your company’s sensitive information safe.

Nicholas Hughes helps businesses integrate cloud and cybersecurity automation into their IT lifecycle processes in order to amplify the efforts of the existing workforce, prevent employee burnout, and free them to do the more important tasks that might be currently neglected. As part of his daily duties as a founding partner and CEO of EITR Technologies LLC., he’s responsible for all of those super awesome elements of the CEO job that you read about as a kid, like setting the strategic direction of the company and modeling corporate values. Additionally, Nick still performs technical consulting work with specializations in Automation & Orchestration, Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud Security, and Systems Architecture. He has nearly 20 years of experience in a wide breadth of roles within Information Technology, which is invaluable to clients seeking comprehensive technical solutions to business problems. Nick highly values pragmatism, logical thinking, and integrity in both his business and personal life… which is a decidedly boring set of core values that reap great results when applied to the task at hand. He also has a wonderful wife and two boys who keep him on his toes.