Trying to define what IT threat monitoring

  Gone are the days where all one needed cyber threat monitoring was some virus protection software. The complexity of the IT threat scene of today is equal–if not superior–to that of the systems we’re trying to protect. Attacks come in all shapes and forms and put our businesses at risk on a daily basis. To protect against them, we need some top quality threat monitoring system. Luckily, we’ve done some of the hard work of finding them and we’re glad to present out top IT threat monitoring systems.

We’ll begin our exploration by trying to define what IT threat monitoring is. Different people might have different definitions–and they’re all equally good–but, for the sake of our discussion, it is important that we are all on the same page and share a common understanding. Next, we’ll try to eliminate some confusion as to what IT threat monitoring is and, more importantly, what it isn’t. We’ll then proceed to explain how IT Threat monitoring works, what are its benefits and why you need it. Finally, we’ll be ready to reveal the result of our search for the top IT Threat monitoring systems and we’ll review each of the top systems we’ve found.

What Is IT Threat Monitoring — A Definition
IT threat monitoring typically refers to the process of continuously monitoring networks and their components (including servers, workstations, and other equipment) for any sign of security threat. These could, for example, be intrusion attempts or data theft. It is an all-encompassing term for the surveillance or a network against all sorts of malicious activities.

IT professionals rely on IT threat monitoring to gain visibility into their networks and the users accessing them. The idea here is to enable stronger data protection and prevent–or at least lessen–the possible damages that could be caused by breaches.

In today’s world, where it is not at all uncommon to see organizations employing independent contractors, remote workers, and even in-house staff using their own devices at work, there is an additional risk to the organizations’ sensitive data. With no direct control over these third-party devices, the only option is to effectively monitor all activity.

IT threat monitoring is a rather complex matter mainly because malicious users and groups use techniques which evolve as fast as–if not faster than–the rest of the information technologies to breach networks and steal data. For that reason, IT threat monitoring systems must also evolve constantly to stay abreast of the threat scene.

What It Is Not – Avoiding Confusion

IT security is a vast and complex domain and it is easy to get things mixed up. And there could easily be some confusion as to what IT threat monitoring is or what it is not. For instance, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) are, of course, used to monitor networks for threats. That would make these systems IT threat monitoring systems. But this is not what we typically refer to then talking about IT threat monitoring.

Likewise, Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is also often considered to be a form of IT threat monitoring solution. Understandably, these systems can also be used to protect our infrastructures against malicious utilization.

Virus protection software could also be considered to be IT threat monitoring systems. After all, they too are used to protect against the same type of threats, albeit using a different approach.

But taken individually, these technologies are not usually what we’re referring to when talking about IT threat monitoring.

As you can see, the concept of IT threat monitoring is not exactly clear. For the sake of this article, we’ve relied on the vendors themselves and what they see as an IT threat monitoring software. It makes sense because in the end, IT threat monitoring is a vague term that can apply to many things.