Cyber security is important for every organization, no matter how large or small. The traditional approach to cyber security has been a perimeter model and it is becoming more apparent that this model is now longer sufficient for today’s cyber security threats. That is where a cyber security mesh architecture model comes in. Here we will explore 4 key features of cyber security mesh architecture and also some steps for implementing this model for your organization.

What is cyber security mesh architecture?

Many traditional cyber security models revolve around a strong perimeter that protects your whole network. As cyber attacks become more sophisticated these traditional models are becoming more and more ineffective. Now, they may keep out a majority of attacks, but the biggest issue is once a threat is inside, these traditional models become woefully inadequate. Cyber security mesh architecture is a modern model that takes a more decentralized approach and allows for greater flexibility and scalability for an organization.

4 Key Features of Cyber Security Mesh Architecture

1. Integrated Dashboards

Since a decentralized approach is taken, a key feature of cyber security mesh architecture is having a dashboard to aid in monitoring what is going on in your network. This helps with real-time information and insights so you can respond to threats as they emerge or possibly even once the gap is found.

2. Distributed Identity Fabric

Identity management is a key feature of cyber security mesh architecture as well as other cyber security models. The reason is identity management is crucial for stopping a lot of cyber attacks, such as phishing, in their tracks. Identity management includes things like least privilege for user access and strong authentication methods like multi-factor authentication (MFA).

3. Consolidation Policy Management

This centralizes the creation of policies so that they are consistent and able to then be dispersed to all components of an organization’s technical infrastructure.

4. Security Analytics and Intelligence

This key feature of cyber security mesh architecture is there to help with gathering data by analyzing an organization’s systems and then identifying potential security weak spots.

7 Steps to Implement Cyber Security Mesh Architecture

1.  Asses your current cyber security

It is important to first conduct a thorough assessment of your current cyber security environment. If you don’t, you might make some fixes and improvements in certain areas while completely neglecting other areas that are hidden but at higher risk for compromise. Be sure to assess all of your technical assets including hardware, software, and data.

2. Define your security needs and objectives

After determining what your current cyber security set up looks like, define what are your needs and rank them in importance. Setting objectives likes these and prioritizing them is important since time and finances are limited.

3. Develop a full security plan

Next, take the needs you identified and develop a strategic plan for those needs. This includes both implementation as well as a strategy to have running constantly to protect our data.

4.  Implement cyber security monitoring

Deploying advanced security analytics and intelligence tools is important to assess how your cyber security strategy is working. Having real-time alerts Using the information those tools give you is very important to the success of your overall plan.

5. Established a plan for identity management

Identity management is key to having a robust cyber security strategy. Implementing something like multi-factor authentication (MFA) to secure all digital assets is one of the most common approaches to identity management and a really good place to start. As a feature of cyber security mesh architecture, MFA can be a good first step.

6. Define and centralize policies

Defining security policies helps to have a standard that your organization has for cyber security. In certain industries, there are compliance standards defined by law, but just because there are not any specific requirements for your industry it still helps to have an understanding of best practices for the policies you set. Remember, policies are only helpful if they are actually enforced.

7. Regularly review and update your strategy

Cyber security and cyber attacks operate in a continuous cycle. When one improves, the other rises to counter it. So set up a good plan that utilizes the features of cyber security mesh architecture and revise it regularly to keep up with the latest cyber threats.

Conclusion

By understanding what the features of cyber security mesh architecture you can better implement steps to utilize this model in your organization. Take the first step and begin assessing your current cyber security posture. You may want to also consult a managed service provider (MSP) to help you learn more about current best practices.

As always, we are here to help.