WTW uses Microsoft Entra, Defender and Purview to implement a zero-trust strategy for security “protects against compromised user passwords and helps to provide extra resilience for identities,” says the report. Entra MFA works by requiring two or more of the following authentication methods: a password, a trusted device like a phone or hardware key, and biometrics like a fingerprint or face scan. This reduces the risk of compromise by 99.2 per cent, according to real world attack data from Entra. Business continuity Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, suggests that cyberattacks will continue to increase. “Since September 2022, we estimate that ransomware attempts have increased by more than 200 per cent,” he says, in a blog post titled ‘A new world of security’. “While firms with effective security can manage these threats, these attacks are becoming more frequent and complex, targeting smaller and more vulnerable organisations, including hospitals, schools and local governments. More than 80 per cent of successful ransomware attacks originate from unmanaged devices, highlighting the importance of expanding protective measures to every single digital device.” With attacks on the rise, businesses have been unable to hire enough cyber-risk professionals to keep pace. One potential solution is to deploy artificial intelligence tools to search for well-disguised attacks and help keep operations running. Microsoft Security Copilot, for example, empowers security teams to see what is happening in their environment to correlate threat activity and make more informed incident response decisions. Software company Enverus, for example, participated in the early-access programme for the solution and uses it to assess approximately 500 gigabytes of data per day, so that it can focus on its security awareness programme. The firm has been able to save up to 40 per cent of time to complete core tasks like investigations and hunting, and 60 per cent of time on reporting. “Today the odds remain stacked against cybersecurity professionals. Too often, they fight an asymmetric battle against relentless and sophisticated attackers,” adds Vasu Jakkal, corporate vice president of Microsoft Security. “With Security Copilot, we are shifting the balance of power into our favour. Security Copilot is the first and only generative AI security product enabling defenders to move at the speed and scale of AI.” Jakkal adds that cybersecurity is an ongoing process without a one-time fix. It’s a “journey that should be integrated into every stage of an organisation’s modernisation,” she says, in a post on LinkedIn. “In today’s world you cannot do digital transformation without cybersecurity transformation.” 49
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=