Beyond the Firewall: The Growing Complexity of IT Security in the Age of Digital Transformation

In today’s rapidly shifting tech ecosystem, the security and vulnerability of information are leading concerns for organizations across industries. At the same time, managing cyber risks and maintaining comprehensive IT infrastructure visibility have only become more difficult. Two industry leaders, Resilience and Logic Monitor, offer solutions that address these critical needs with unique approaches to managing cyber risk and ensuring robust IT infrastructure. 

At this year’s Collision Conference in Toronto, Altitude Accelerator’s Hessie Jones had the opportunity to speak with two leaders in the tech industry: Dr. Anne Irvine, Resilience’s Chief Data and Analytics Officer and Christine Kosmowski, the CEO of Logic Monitor. They discussed the security and vulnerability of information and what their respective companies are doing to combat ever evolving threats.  

Information Security Risks are on the Rise 

According to IBM’s 2023 report on data breach costs, cybersecurity has only become more serious. They claim that “The global average cost of a data breach in 2023 was USD 4.45 million, a 15% increase over 3 years. 51% of organizations are planning to increase security investments because of a breach, including incident response (IR) planning and testing, employee training, and threat detection and response tools. The average savings for organizations that use security AI and automation extensively is USD 1.76 million compared to organizations that don’t.” 

Dr. Irvine also comments on the risks of data breaches, stating “Data breaches were the major headline 10 years ago and really took the cyber insurance market to the next level because they cost organizations so much money and they continue to be a risk to organizations. I think some of these statistics honestly are driven by increased amounts of disclosure. There is no longer a huge amount of reputational harm when a data breach occurs in an organization because they’re more common, and we’re used to them as consumers.”  

Irvine also acknowledges the increasing regulation and guideline regarding what information is disclosed and to whom it is disclosed. In recent years, ransomware attacks have surged, presenting a significant unknown for organizations. The primary concerns involve the likelihood of experiencing a ransomware attack, the methods by which such an attack might occur, the potential costs involved, and the strategies for managing the aftermath. Compared to data breaches, which are relatively well-regulated, ransomware attacks pose a greater challenge for customers due to these uncertainties. 

Adapting to Evolving Threats and Complex IT Environments 

Currently, Logic Monitor monitors over a trillion records per day, manages an estimated 3 million active devices, and supports approximately 100,000 users across 30+ countries. Kosmowski comments on these statistics saying “I think it’s important that you, first and foremost, can see everything in your environment. You need to be able to collect this data from all the different sources, whether it’s your network, database, server, or cloud container– …that way you don’t have any blind spots.”  

Kosmowski adds that once the data is collected and analyzed, it provides the context needed to become highly predictive. This allows for the identification of anomalies with pinpoint accuracy before they become significant issues. Additionally, solutions can be automated to directly address and resolve potential problems for customers. 

Both Resilience and Logic Monitor indicate they can adapt to rapidly evolving threats. “Threats are evolving, threat actors are using new techniques, and we’re responding to those changes really in very real-time,” noted Dr. Irvine. This proactive approach involves quickly understanding and disseminating information about new attack vectors, creating a positive feedback loop that strengthens the defenses of all their clients. 

Logic Monitor’s large client base includes Coca-Cola, Top Golf, and Airbnb and admits addressing the complexity of modern IT environments within them has only become more difficult. Kosmowski explains, 

“IT environments certainly are not getting less complex; they’re getting more complex and their surface areas increasing. People are adding applications, databases, infrastructures, and they’re moving from the cloud, back from the cloud, then back on. These environments are complicated, and so more data is coming in. The number of records we are ingesting every single day is constantly scaling, making it noisy and harder to find the signal between the noise. If you think about IT operations and how they’re getting diluted with all these this data and alerts, they’re tasked with quickly identifying which alert matters.”  

She emphasizes the importance of precise anomaly detection and automated solutions. Logic Monitor’s AI capabilities help filter out noise, allowing IT teams to focus on critical alerts and systemic issues, thus improving overall operational efficiency. 

A Holistic Approach to Cyber Risk Management 

Kosmowski explains how cyber risk management has evolved and how companies need to adapt to this change: “Back in the day, you had on-premise observability tools from the late 90s, early 2000s, then in the 2010s with the rise of the hyperscalers, folks rushed to monitor the cloud. There was no one bridging those two things together and the world is hybrid. Plus, IT proliferation is continuing to happen at a pace we have never seen before. Logic Monitor is really in this unique position where we can see the scale and breadth of information in a single unified view that nobody else can.” 

Resilience offers a comprehensive solution that belies traditional insurance services. Dr. Irvine emphasizes their balanced approach: “We provide our customers with a comprehensive risk management solution that includes insurance as well as additional products and services that help our customers better manage their cyber risk comprehensively.” This strategy helps companies navigate the complexities of cyber risk by investing in cyber controls, enhancing security teams, and opting for robust insurance coverage.  

Logic Monitor offers a robust hybrid observability platform powered by AI. Kosmowski highlighted the platform’s capability to provide a unified view of IT infrastructure, covering networks, infrastructures, cloud containers, and applications. “Logic Monitor is in a unique position to see the step and breadth of information in a single unified view that nobody else can,” she stated. This capability is invaluable for organizations managing hybrid environments, which are becoming increasingly common. 

Leveraging Real-Time Data and AI 

Both Resilience and Logic Monitor leverage real-time data to enhance their offerings. Resilience’s dual role as a technology provider and insurance carrier provides unparalleled insights into the financial impact of cyber-attacks, enabling them to guide companies in making informed decisions about their cyber risk management strategies. “We are seeing how these attacks happen and how much they cost because we’re working with companies as their insurance provider. We know how they play out and really the dollars and cents that are at stake in a way that puts us in a really good position to talk about things like ROI on different investments into security controls as well as insurance.” Dr. Irvine explained. 

Logic Monitor has integrated machine learning and stochastic model techniques since its inception in 2007, with recent advancements in generative AI further enhancing their predictive capabilities. By summarizing vast amounts of data into actionable insights, Logic Monitor allows IT personnel to ask natural language questions and receive clear recommendations, enabling more effective root cause analysis and automated solutions. 

Proactive Defense and Building Trust with Clients 

Both companies identify the challenge of staying ahead of threats and defending their customer’s data, although the larger issue at hand is combating against new technologies that are evolving into more powerful threats. Resilience’s proactive defense strategy involves investing heavily in security research to continuously monitor cyber criminals’ tactics and techniques, allowing them to preemptively disrupt malicious activities. Dr. Irvine likened their approach to playing whack-a-mole: “The minute we identify something, we create a system that can stop future attacks of that kind.” 

Similarly, Logic Monitor builds trust with clients by demonstrating quick value through immediate results, establishing its reliability and efficacy. “Everything we do is innovating with our customers,” emphasized Kosmowski. This customer-centric approach ensures that the platform addresses real business problems with real data, delivering quick and meaningful results.    

The Future of Cybersecurity  

Dr. Irvine envisions a future where the cybersecurity industry undergoes significant disruption, with a greater emphasis on data-driven risk management. “The cybersecurity industry is going to be disrupted severely. We start to think about cybersecurity more as a risk and we start to put more data and more dollars and cents around some of these analyses,” she predicted.   

As the industry matures, Dr. Irvine anticipates a shift towards more transparent and effective cybersecurity solutions, reducing the prevalence of smoke and mirrors in the marketplace. She also claims that “AI and LLM’s will take over jobs. There will be automation, and we’re going to need to upskill individuals for their sake and for the sake of us solving some of these hard problems. It’s just a challenge for all of us to figure out how.” 

Kosmowski also remarked that the industry must remain on top of what will continue to be a definitive risk to organizations, “Over 86% of companies are hybrid and expect to remain hybrid for the foreseeable future, plus we know IT proliferation is continuing to happen at a pace that we have never seen before.  

The security and vulnerability of information in today’s digital landscape require innovative and agile approaches. Resilience and Logic Monitor exemplify how their unique solutions in comprehensive risk management with advanced observability can safeguard businesses from costly cyber-attacks and ensure robust IT infrastructure. As cyber threats continue to evolve, these companies’ proactive and data-driven strategies set a new standard in the industry, demonstrating that with the right expertise and tools, cyber risk can be effectively managed. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Massimo Bozzo is an interactive media writer with Altitude Accelerator, a non-profit innovation hub and business incubator which provides programs to help founders grow and scale. Massimo is currently pursuing his undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto Mississauga in Professional Writing and Communication where he has written and published several works through various campus publications.