Here are the top tips for adapting your cybersecurity defenses.

Protect Access Credentials

For years now, attackers have targeted credentials. Even after the nationwide increase in credential security, it still remains a prevalent issue. The Ponemon Institute found that 54% of security incidents were caused by credential theft. Enterprises looking to safeguard their access points should follow these three steps:

1. Implement Phishing-Resistant Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) – According to IBM, Phishing is the most expensive initial attack vector, racking up a cost of $4.9 million in 2023 alone. Phishing-resistant MFA, such as FIDO-based authentication, adds an additional layer of security beyond traditional MFA techniques like SMS or one-time-passwords (OTPs). This reduces the likelihood of successful phishing attacks and adds a significant layer of protection.
2. Secure Service Accounts through Privileged Access Management (PAM) – Utilizing a PAM system for managing service accounts helps in password management, rotation and obfuscation. This mitigates the risk of compromised credentials with access privileges, removing credentials as an attack path.
3. Transition to Passwordless Authentication – Lastly, remove passwords as the primary authentication source. Moving towards a Passwordless Environment or Passwordless Experience in the environment eliminates significant vulnerabilities, reducing the likelihood of brute force attacks and credentials as an attack vector.

Enhance Breach Detection Capabilities

The number of data breaches in the U.S. has significantly increased within the past decade. Statistica reported 447 data breaches in 2012, and by 2023 they found over 3,205 total breaches. However, these numbers are just the breaches that have been reported. It’s is widely believed that the number of actual breaches far exceeds these figures. This, coupled with IBM’s estimated average total cost of $5.13 million per breach, proves how seriously companies should take this issue.

Quickly detecting “Indicators of Attack” is crucial in minimizing the impact of cyberattacks. Organizations should invest in people, processes and technology, as well as implementing Active Directory Hygiene and Identity Threat Detection that will find and shut down malicious activity before entering the organization’s IT infrastructure. With these investments, organizations must find the balance between securing their “crown jewels” and enabling their organization to operate efficiently.

1. Invest in People, Processes and Technology – Organizations must allocate resources toward cybersecurity investments aimed at decreasing the time it takes to detect and respond to cyber threats. This involves a full-rounded approach of skilled personnel, streamlined processes and cutting-edge technologies.
2. Focus on Active Directory (AD) Hygiene – Active Directory (AD) has continued to be the core authentication platform in most organizations making AD Hygiene the most important component. CrowdStrike found that 50 percent of organizations have experienced an Active Directory attack in the last two years, and 40 percent of those attacks were successful due to poor hygiene. By regularly reviewing and monitoring user and device identities, managing security groups and employing Privileged Access Management for AD admins, organizations stand a stronger chance at preventing and remaining secure during these attacks.
3. Implement Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) – The best way to prevent any attack is to stay proactive. ITDR solutions enable proactive monitoring and control of the Active Directory environment, enforcing early detection and response to identity-based threats.

Emphasize Attack Surface Management

Attack surface management has become increasingly popular for modern organizations. This is largely due to the projected 50% increase in cyberattacks across all industries by 2026.  A vast majority of attacked surfaces are exposed through external services and SaaS platforms. For example: organizations where known and unknown cloud-native workloads are expected to be in place, in addition to Shadow IT. When traditional perimeter security measures are undefined, attack surface management is essential to an organization’s cybersecurity defenses. Prioritizing effective management of the attack surface is indispensable for comprehensive defense-in-depth strategies. This will allow the identification and mitigation of potential vulnerabilities.

Leverage Threat Intelligence

In IBM’s 2023 Cost of Data Breach Report, they concluded that globally, organizations took an average of 204 days to identify a data breach. That said, organizations using threat intelligence identified threats 28 days faster. Threat Intelligence has proven vital in helping organizations block the “known bad” and understand and contextualize threats in and outside their environment. Additionally, operationalizing high-fidelity Threat Intelligence sources will help facilitate rapid detection by decreasing false positives and enabling incident responders to focus on decreasing the time to mitigate and remediate cyber threats.

Safeguarding your business against cyber threats requires a comprehensive strategy.  It requires proactive measures to protect access credentials, enhance breach detection capabilities, manage attack surfaces and leverage threat intelligence sources. While the occurrence and cost of breaches continue to grow, not all hope is lost. Organizations can effectively mitigate their risk by continuously by evolving and reinforcing their strategies for cybersecurity defenses.

Related News:

Verinext Named Fortinet EPSP; Engaged Preferred Services Partner

Cisco Gold Integrator Status Earned by Verinext in the Cisco Partner Program

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“The Engage Preferred Services Partner (EPSP) Program with Fortinet is a cornerstone in our strategy to elevate cybersecurity defenses for our clients,” said Mike O’Nan, Director of Networking Architecture, Verinext. “This exclusive collaboration signifies more than a partnership; it represents a shared commitment towards innovation and a proactive approach to evolving cybersecurity threats. Through our EPSP designation, we gain unparalleled access to advanced training, support, and Fortinet’s expertise, enhancing our ability to deliver comprehensive security solutions. This program enables us to protect our clients’ investments more effectively and solidify our role as trusted advisors. We’re thrilled to leverage EPSP to its full potential, ensuring our services remain at the cutting edge of security architecture and technology while continually exceeding our clients’ expectations in safeguarding their digital assets.”

“Verinext is a highly trusted and preferred partner for Fortinet, opening doors to new business prospects and delivering increased credibility with their competitive edge in the market,” said Ken McCray, Vice President of Channel Sales, US, Fortinet. “They have shown exceptional capability in the areas of SD-WAN, LAN-Edge and Operational Technology and we are pleased to name them among this distinguished list of EPSP partners.”

As an Engage Preferred Services Partner, Verinext receives access to specialized training and direct assistance from Fortinet experts to build new skills in providing advanced security support or services for their customers, including those with rapidly evolving and expanding hybrid network infrastructures. Verinext can also collaborate directly with Fortinet Professional Support experts on implementations to leverage Fortinet best practices, resulting in increased expertise and visibility while developing a more robust services portfolio.

A Program Focused on Enabling Opportunities for Partners 

Fortinet is committed to helping partners meet new and evolving customer challenges created by work-from-anywhere models, hybrid IT environments, and the evolving threat landscape through Fortinet’s Engage Partner Program and enablement tools for partners. The program is focused on enabling growth opportunities that are unique with Fortinet’s expansive portfolio built around the Fortinet Security Fabric, designed to secure customers’ entire infrastructure from the data center to the cloud.

In addition, Fortinet is committed to helping partners grow productive, predictable, and rewarding relationships to differentiate from competitors. The Fortinet Engage Partner program helps partners acquire the industry knowledge they need to increase business opportunities, deliver digital acceleration for customers with customizable programs, and accelerate partner growth.

Fortinet solutions that support the convergence of networking and security are available as part of the Verinext suite of security and networking solutio­ns. Verinext offers a complete range of security and networking solutions that are designed to solve business challenges through the intelligent application of next-generation technology. To learn more about Fortinet’s EPSP, Engaged Preferred Services Partner, visit the website here.

Related News:

Cisco Gold Integrator Status Earned by Verinext in the Cisco Partner Program

Cloud PAM Essentials Solution Offered by Partners Verinext and One Identity

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“Cisco is a valued Verinext partner delivering an industry-leading portfolio of technology innovations that empower our mutual customers to securely connect their business with confidence,” said Robby Paul, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Verinext. “By achieving Cisco Gold Integrator status, we are underscoring our dedication to delivering the expertise, specialization and performance our mutual customers need to modernize their business. This milestone not only highlights our distinction in the market, but our commitment to helping our customers meet their technology goals, today and tomorrow.”

“Verinext is remarkable in both their technology expertise as well as their customer-centric methodology,” said Lynley Noviello, Vice President of Sales at Cisco. “We are pleased to name them among our select group of Gold Integrator partners who have completed a series of rigorous requirements, including regular audits conducted by Cisco to validate their expertise and capabilities.”

Meeting the requirements to achieve Cisco Gold Integrator status, Verinext demonstrated unrivaled achievements in the following specializations:

• Networking Specialization
• Hybrid Work from Office Solution Specialization
• Secure Access Service Edge Solution Specialization
• Advanced Collaboration Architecture Specialization
• Advanced Data Center Architecture Specialization
• Advanced Enterprise Networks Architecture Specialization
• Advanced Security Architecture Specialization
• Customer Experience Specialization
• Cisco Webex Contact Center Specialization
• Collaboration SaaS Specialization

Cisco solutions for networking, security, collaboration, cloud management and more are part of the Verinext suite of security and networking solutions. Verinext offers a complete range of security and networking solutions that are designed to solve business challenges through the intelligent application of next-generation technology. For more information about Verinext and the Cisco Gold Integrator Status, visit the website here.

Related News:

Cloud PAM Essentials Solution Offered by Partners Verinext and One Identity

New Offices Across Key Regional Markets Support Verinext’s Rapid Growth

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“In today’s cybersecurity climate, defending privileged access is a top priority to fortify security controls while meeting compliance standards,” said Jackie Groark, Vice President, Security and Chief Information Security Officer, Verinext. “One Identity delivers this protection with both strength and simplicity. The new One Identity Cloud PAM Essentials extends the company’s advanced privileged access protection into the cloud. A unique, cloud-native solution, it protects both remote and hybrid security teams so they can securely access cloud applications and resources with both visibility and control.”

According to research by KuppingerCole, 78% of small and mid-sized businesses are adopting comprehensive PAM solutions as an integral part of their cybersecurity strategy. This is largely in response to the growing sophistication and frequency of cyberattacks as well as the increasing attack surface of today’s enterprises migrating workloads to the cloud. PAM technology works to solve this challenge by tightly controlling and auditing access to privileged accounts. This improves the organization’s security posture and helps to mitigate identity-based attacks.

“We’re excited to introduce One Identity Cloud PAM Essentials with the support of our partner, Verinext,” said Mark Logan, CEO of One Identity. “This launch signifies our joint commitment to providing cutting-edge solutions that address the evolving challenges of privileged access management. With PAM Essentials, organizations can streamline their security processes and fortify their defenses against identity-based threats. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Verinext to deliver innovative solutions that empower businesses to enhance their security posture.”

Offering an exceptional time-to-value and streamlined management interface, PAM Essentials empowers security teams with robust controls, ensuring only authorized individuals can gain access to sensitive systems and data. The solution provides full visibility into user activities, facilitating proactive risk management through an intuitive user interface.

One Identity Safeguard and PAM Essentials are now available as part of the Verinext suite of PAM security solutions. Verinext offers a complete range of security solutions that are designed to solve business challenges through the intelligent application of next-generation security technology. For more information about Veristor and One Identity Cloud PAM Essentials solution, visit the website here.

Related News:

New Offices Across Key Regional Markets Support Verinext’s Rapid Growth

Matt Bynum Named SVP Managed Services by Verinext

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“We have seen tremendous growth for Verinext throughout 2023 as we continue to execute on our mission to deliver the transformative technology solutions customers need to prepare for what’s next,” said Brian Glahn, CEO of Verinext. “To further accelerate our growth, we have elevated our offices in five of our primary regional markets to better accommodate team collaboration, customer architecture and design sessions and overall workplace productivity. These reimagined workplaces have been designed to inspire innovation and enhance the engaging customer experiences Verinext has become known so well for.”

In the Philadelphia region, Verinext has opened doors to a new 11,300 square-foot facility located at 510 Township Line Rd. in Blue Bell, Pa. The new space features a strategic layout to accommodate hybrid work for its Philadelphia-area employees while offering an inspiring “think tank” style format for IT strategy sessions with customers.

In the Atlanta region, Verinext unveiled a new, modern architecture design center and implementation lab which features a comprehensive technology lab, and a dedicated environment for strategic, hands-on customer architecture and design sessions. The new design center is housed in Verinext’s 32,000 square-foot facility located at 4850 River Green Parkway in Duluth, Ga.

Verinext has also doubled the size of three of its regional offices to accommodate increasing staff and to facilitate more interactive customer strategy engagements. In Birmingham, Verinext has expanded its facilities with a new 3,900 square-foot office located at 3535 Grandview Parkway. In Charlotte, Verinext’s larger, 4,700 square-foot office is located at 6101 Carnegie Boulevard. In Nashville, Verinext has also opened a new, 5,200 square-foot office at 830 Crescent Centre Drive in Franklin, Tenn.

For more information on contacting Verinext at one of its five regional office locations visit the website here.

Related News:

Matt Bynum Named SVP Managed Services by Verinext

US Patent for IT Infrastructure Automation was Granted to Verinext

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In his new role, Matt Bynum is responsible for leading the Verinext managed services team for effective managed services delivery and accelerated customer adoption. He rejoins Verinext from Amazon Web Services where he served as a solutions architecture leader. Prior to his role at AWS, Bynum was vice president of services for Veristor, before its merger with Anexinet to form Verinext. He has also held technology services leadership positions with Bedroc, Softchoice and ProSys. He holds a bachelor’s degree in information technology from Western Governor’s University and an MBA from Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business. He also holds a Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity Management from Auburn University and is a Cisco CCIE Collaboration Emeritus.

“Verinext has built a comprehensive suite of managed services designed to elevate customers’ resilience and service levels,” said Ashby Lincoln, President, Verinext. “In the face of IT talent shortages and increasing infrastructure management complexity, Verinext managed services give customers the resources and expertise they need to adapt to fast changing business requirements. We are excited to have Matt back on our Verinext leadership team to accelerate our managed services adoption and institute best practices for ensuring consistent client delivery and exceptional customer satisfaction.”

“Verinext is on a hot growth trajectory with one of the most robust suites of managed services in the nation, backed by some of the industry’s most passionate and talented experts,” said Bynum. “I’m thrilled to be coming home to rejoin the Verinext family and look forward to further developing our comprehensive suite of end-to-end managed services that have been designed to accelerate digital transformation with the managed precision our customers need to not just grow, but thrive, in today’s competitive economy.”

Verinext managed services simplify infrastructure management, enhance security and compliance, deliver resilient data protection and provide operational reporting and trend analysis for continuous improvements that keep customers out in front. Verinext managed services experts span every technology skillset so customers no longer have to worry about recruiting in a challenging IT staffing climate and the company’s tailored managed services ensure that customers have the differentiation and resources to anticipate shifting requirements and pivot quickly when new needs arise. Verinext is a multi-year recipient of CRN MSP 500 and Channel Futures MSP 501 honors.

Learn more information on Matt Bynum and the suite of Verinext managed services.

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Verinext Achieved Nutanix Elevate Partner Program Champion Status

US Patent for IT Infrastructure Automation was Granted to Verinext

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Documented as U.S. patent 11,620,122 B2, the Verinext Automation Controller for Upgrading an IT Infrastructure controls the logic and order of operations for enterprise infrastructure updates. The proven methodology ultimately automates complex firmware upgrades and patching for large-scale IT infrastructure to simplify the process for IT teams while limiting downtime and downstream impact on the enterprise ecosystem components. As a result, IT infrastructure can be upgraded more swiftly and seamlessly without creating security or compliance gaps.

“Today’s enterprises have increasingly complex IT infrastructure and as a result performing needed upgrades and patching can have a dramatic and devastating ripple effect if not performed with documented precision,” said Greg Tinker, Chief Technology Officer, Automation at Verinext. “With our patented IT infrastructure automation methodology, customers can be assured that changes made to their environment follow a proven and peer-reviewed process that will limit downtime and ensure security, governance and compliance controls are accurately met. It’s a critical layer of assurance that delivers confidence that only Verinext can provide.”

Modern infrastructure is complex and hybrid. It requires advanced expertise to design, implement, automate and manage the infrastructure that spans all platforms and workloads. Verinext uniquely offers cross-enterprise knowledge, now along with patented methodology, to upgrade, manage and modernize IT infrastructure with precision. For more information about Verinext’s hybrid infrastructure solutions visit the website HERE.

The U.S. patent, which was awarded to Verinext and its inventors Gregory L. Tinker and George Carter, was officially filed earlier this year.

Learn more at the website HERE.

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Verinext Launches DRaaS Delivered on HPE GreenLake

Verinext Received Recognition for Southeast Regional Partner of the Year by Artic Wolf

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The Verinext DRaaS Managed Service solution provides secure, compliant and flexible DRaaS managed services for customers that want ransomware resilience and continuous data protection and availability with near-zero data loss or downtime. Maintaining DR datasets in a fully managed private cloud, the Verinext DRaaS Managed Service assures security, protection, compliance and confidence for customers that want to know exactly where their data is stored. The HPE GreenLake platform with disaster recovery software from Zerto, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, is deployed in dedicated Verinext datacenters and Verinext will leverage the agility of the HPE GreenLake platform for rapid customer onboarding and scale.

“Our DRaaS Managed Service delivered on HPE GreenLake and with Zerto technology is a flagship environment for customers that want to realize cloud-like agility, ensure stringent data security and benefit from a proven modern private cloud infrastructure,” said Steve Bishop, Chief Technology Officer, Verinext. “As one of the first HPE Platinum Partners in North America to deliver its DR managed service with HPE GreenLake, we are clearly the DR innovation leader for any company looking to benefit from experience-driven managed services backed by the modern and proven HPE GreenLake private cloud infrastructure.”

“Verinext is a longstanding partner that has embraced our edge-to-cloud strategy. This investment is a great example of how they are embracing HPE GreenLake to bring the best cloud experience to their customers,” said Phil Soper, head of North American partner sales, HPE.

The Verinext DRaaS Managed Service is delivered on the HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform. Leveraging the power of Zerto for ransomware protection and disaster recovery for any app, the Verinext DRaaS Managed Service offers the lowest recovery point objectives (RPOs) and fastest recovery time objectives (RTOs) in the industry. Delivering real-time protection and near-zero data loss and application downtime, the DRaaS solution supports rapid time to deployment, predictable consumption-based costs and is fully managed, 24/7 by Verinext experts to assure continuous data availability, security and compliance. With Verinext DRaaS Managed Services, customer data has a dedicated retention solution and comes complete with rapid onboarding and rapid recovery services that meet even the most stringent SLAs.

“Verinext is a vanguard in managed service innovation as one of the first of HPE’s Platinum Partners to power their DRaaS Managed Services with HPE GreenLake and Zerto,” said Ulrich Seibold, WW VP of HPE GreenLake partner and service provider sales, HPE. “Together, we are giving mutual customers the secure, resilient and agile disaster recovery solution they need to achieve continuous data protection for critical workloads and data with granular point-in-time recovery to reduce the risk of ransomware or unexpected downtime events.”

The Verinext DRaaS Managed Service delivered on HPE GreenLake is available now as part of the complete Verinext suite of managed services solutions. Pricing is based on consumption. For more information visit the Verinext website HERE and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HERE.

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Verinext Received Recognition for Southeast Regional Partner of the Year by Artic Wolf

Verinext Executives Named CRN 2023 Women of the Channel

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“Arctic Wolf delivers one of the most innovative and effective platforms for security operations efficiency – from managed detection and response on prem and in the cloud through to incident response,” said Jackie Groark, Vice President, Security and Chief Information Security Officer, Verinext. “Using advanced machine learning and custom detection rules, the Arctic Wolf platform delivers the personalized protection our customers need to elevate their security posture. That’s why at Verinext we’ve made it a core part of our suite of security products designed to reduce IT cost and risk while ensuring cybersecurity protection. We are honored to be named the Arctic Wolf FY23 Southeast Regional Partner of the Year.”

Celebrating their sixth year, The Arctic Wolf Partner of the Year Awards honor top-performing partners for their achievements in helping organizations improve their security operations through the use of Arctic Wolf solutions and for their commitment to shared customer success through a partnership with Arctic Wolf.

“The Arctic Wolf partner community has demonstrated their commitment to security operations and embraced our vision of ending cyber risk for all, enabling them to play a vital role in the security journey of their customers,” said Will Briggs, senior vice president, global channels, Arctic Wolf. “Our Partner of the Year Awards recognize and celebrate those partners who share our mission to end cyber risk, and we congratulate the winners on their significant achievements.”

Arctic Wolf is a global leader in security operations and the pioneers behind one of the largest cloud-native security operations platforms in the world. Built on open XDR architecture, the Arctic Wolf Security Operations Cloud ingests and analyzes more than three trillion security events a week across endpoint, network, and cloud sources to deliver critical security outcomes and optimize an organization’s disparate security solutions. Deployed by thousands of organizations globally, the Arctic Wolf Security Operations Cloud delivers automated threat detection and response at scale and empowers organizations of virtually any size to establish world-class security operations with the push of a button.

The Arctic Wolf Security Operations Cloud is a core solution in the Verinext suite of security products and services which are designed to reduce IT cost and risk while ensuring cybersecurity protection. For more information visit the Verinext website HERE and Artic Wolf, HERE.

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Verinext Executives Named CRN 2023 Women of the Channel

Verinext Named by Cloudflare as 2022 Growth Partner of the Year

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