Page 106 - Cyber Defense eMagazine January 2024

The Imperative of Risk-Based Prioritization

Recognizing the urgency of this challenge, it’s time for organizations to adopt a risk-based prioritization
approach to CDE network hardening; also known as risk-based vulnerability management (RBVM). Key
to this is a detailed risk analysis of misconfigurations which leverages networking expertise to determine
the ease of exploit, potential impact to security, and ease of fix. This capability has been automated and
is available at network scale and on a continuous basis, if required. Using risk-focused solutions,
organizations are able to identify compliance risk trends and proactively address their most critical
vulnerabilities to strengthen their defense against evolving cyber threats - efficiently and strategically.

Automation Revolutionizes Compliance

Historically, achieving PCI DSS compliance involved laborious manual mapping of network infrastructure
device checks to specific requirements. A time-consuming process that was prone to error proliferation.
However, new solutions allow for automating ready-mapped network device checks with drill-down
access to testing procedures to provide evidence to QSAs. Compliance reports demonstrate whether
routers, switches, and firewalls either pass or fail to meet PCI DSS 4.0 requirements. Non-compliances
are also prioritized by risk, so organizations can identify gaps. This allows internal security teams to
quickly and efficiently categorize and prioritize mitigating action, which is a fundamental aspect of
enhancing PCI DSS compliance posture.

Selecting the Right Tools

A certified NSA cryptanalyst and PCI expert with over twenty years in the payment card industry recently
shared that most products on the market don’t truly understand PCI and vendors rarely have a deep
understanding of data security requirements, so it is essential that companies investigate this when
selecting a solution. It’s crucial that solutions measure how well an entity meets the PCI DSS 4.0
requirements.
Choosing automated risk-based prioritization solutions can guide a business towards a more secure and
resilient future by determining exactly how and where configurations do not comply with the desired state.
And by reporting what needs to be done to fix the issues identified, the analysis can reduce the time to
remediate.

After all, reducing the time to remediate an issue is equally as essential as knowing that a configuration
doesn’t comply and how it can be mitigated.

Proactive Measures for a Secure Future

Proactive security approaches are the glue that will ultimately protect cardholder data environments
(CDE).

Cyber Defense eMagazine – January 2024 Edition 106
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