Remember The Sixth Sense, that movie where Haley Joel Osmond’s character can see ghosts are if they were living people? It’s an interesting premise to give a character such a unique and special capability- to see and communicate with ghosts, whether benign or hostile, is clearly something out of the ordinary. Knowledge is power, and because he knew they were there and could communicate with said entities, he eventually was able to diffuse tense situations and helped achieve solutions in the existence of the ghosts in the movie.
Since this is a blog about enterprise security, let’s take a look at the film through the eyes of an IT administrator. There is one huge parallel that I can’t help but draw- the ability to see entities that others aren’t aware of. While we may not have to deal with actual ghosts, that specific ability to see and communicate with things that otherwise go unnoticed is one of the keys to compelte enterprise security. Also known as monitoring, that communication and awareness is crucial to an effective security program.
So many things in an enterprise need to be monitored. Privileged users, what users can and cannot access, all activity (down to the keystroke level), access to systems, error reports, security controls, compliance reporting, and session activity are just a few. Without monitoring, those responsible for IT have no idea what is going on in these areas. It’s impossible to know where problems exist and what can be done to fix them, and it’s hard to be confident in the status of your company’s secure information. Monitoring is also a huge part of having a compliant IT infrastructure. The ability to oversee activity is critical, and truly a capability that must be included in each IT environment’s security strategy.
Click here to learn how to go Sixth Sense on your IT infrastructure.
