Browse Author: Perry Nalevka

SecuNETWORK SECURITYrity

Network Security vs. Endpoint: Which One Is Right For Your Business?

 

Security

 

Every week, 95% of network threat alerts are ignored worldwide, leaving behind an average of 16,232 threats that go unchecked. Most of these are unwanted and irrelevant alerts, but what about the vital ones that go unnoticed?

Should you block these threats using network security before they actually hit your endpoints with detection and sandboxing?

What if you don’t have secure endpoints? Will this create a single layer that hackers can easily  penetrate?

Network security

Network security involves protecting the devices and files on your network against unauthorized access. It focuses on protecting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of your data. Network-based security can provide information about traffic on the network and threats that have been blocked. The downside is that so many warnings can be generated that it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the data and false alarms and miss the actual attack.

Network security can also be time consuming. When a viable threat is found, it needs to be investigated, which can be a long process. Networks have also become unpredictable, which makes protecting them using network-based security more difficult.

In the past, network security has been a majority of an organization’s security budget. However, things may be changing. As more security options are moved to the endpoint such as authentication, encryption, and anti-malware, network security is changing.

“It’s certainly not time to rip out the firewall, network security isn’t dead yet. It’s changing,” says Spencer Ferguson of Wasatch Software.

Endpoint security

Endpoint security secures end-user devices like laptops, desktops, and mobile devices. It addresses the risk associated with the devices that are connecting to your network. Endpoint security is different than traditional antivirus in that with an endpoint security framework, each individual endpoint is at least partially responsible for maintaining their own security.

“The focus is going away from the network perimeter and to the endpoint because it has to,” says Shane Vinup with Cyber Advisors. “There’s a lot of data and a lot of sensitive data in the wild outside of the firewall. The focus now really is: How do I protect that data? The focus for a security professional has shifted from the perimeter.”

Mike Spanbauer, VP of Research and Strategy at NSS Labs seems to agree that endpoints are important, but has concerns about determining who is responsible for protecting them. “Organizations have more endpoints today than ever, and securing those endpoints is challenging, because it’s rare that any one organization is responsible for all the endpoints that touch its network and servers,” says Spanbauer. “This is why it’s so critical for businesses to identify who’s responsible for securing which endpoints before a security incident occurs.”

Why Not Use Both?

The advantages of endpoint and network security are not mutually exclusive. There are advantages to using both. With network security, anomalies can be identified and confirmed and then endpoints can provide clarification.

To help secure your network, make sure your endpoints are secure. Then make sure your network security is in place to supplement your endpoint protection.

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Cybersecurity professionals

4 TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL CYBERSECURITY EMAIL MARKETING

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Cybersecurity professionals are by nature a cautious group who spend their days trying to figure out what types of tricks the attackers will attempt next. Some even try to teach employees in their organization good practices like not clicking on emails from people they don’t know. 

Enter the marketing professional, whose job it is to market to this group of cautious professionals and get them to trust us enough to actually click on a link so they can check out our products and services. As marketers, we like to collect analytics to show how readers are progressing through the sales cycle. Unfortunately, in order to get this type of tracking data, our links have to be unique and don’t display the true destination of the click (i.e. http://google.com might become http://bit.ly/20nEfE5). This means that cybersecurity professionals can’t tell where a link goes and are therefore unlikely to click. 

In order to succeed as marketer with cybersecurity professionals, you need to understand how they’re different. This group of professionals is wary of many types of marketing as they are constantly on the lookout for people trying to dupe them or their fellow employees.

Here are 4 tips to improve your email marketing to cybersecurity professionals:

1. Get To Know Your Audience (Intimately)

  •  Create a Use Case that clearly defines who your audience is, the challenges they  face, and how you need to position your product or service so that it is the     unique  solution they need to solve their problem.
  •  Understand which sector of the cybersecurity industry your product or service  occupies (i.e. endpoints, incident response, antivirus, logging, etc.).
  •  Understand and use their language of cybersecurity in your email correspondence.
  •  Find out if there are any regulations or standards by which your software will be  affected.

2. Take The Time to Build Trust

Whenever working with this highly technical group of people, always use facts instead of bold marketing claims. If you try to exaggerate the features or benefits of your services, you will likely get an unsubscribe.

This is a group of people who are regularly being told by vendors that their software is the “magic silver bullet” that will stop any type of attack. The problem is, saying that anything is “unhackable,” “undefeatable,” or “able to stop any type of attack” to this audience will quickly destroy the trust you’ve worked hard to build.

Instead, stick to the facts, features, and benefits that you can prove and market your product or service with credibility. 

3. Take Advantage Of Case Studies

There is no better way to prove that your product or service is credible than hearing success stories of other customers who have used your product or service. Customer case studies provide a real-world story of how a challenge was met and then uniquely solved with your service.

images (2)-1.jpgHow can you get these case studies? When you’re negotiating price with an existing customer, ask them if they would be willing to do a public reference in exchange for a reduced price.

4. Start With A Strong Welcome Series

After your lead has downloaded your gated content (i.e. case study, whitepaper, webinar, etc.), make sure you send them a strong welcome series. A welcome series will typically have the best open and click-thru rates.

Keep Nurturing

Providing real value that connects with cybersecurity professionals in their own language using a welcome series is a great way to start building trust. By following these tips, you can keep nurturing cybersecurity leads until they are ready to make a decision.

 

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Lead Generation Tips for CyberSecurity Companies

 

Lead Generation Tips for CyberSecurity Companies

 

While most companies today already use some form of online lead generation, how they do so is frequently evolving. If cybersecurity businesses want to keep up with the times, it becomes important to periodically evaluate the current lead generation strategy and see if there are better opportunities out there.

For example, in the past, many companies used specific landing pages – often connected to ad accounts – that are hidden from the sitemap and used primarily to address specific leads. But many businesses are finding that this strategy is no longer necessary, and that on-page lead captures may be more successful.

How each company generates leads is going to be dependent on the type of business they run, what their current marketing strategies are, what products and services are available, and who their ideal customer is. However, there are several tips and strategies that should be considered as a cybersecurity company.

Optimizing On-Page Tactics

It starts with on-page lead generation. These are the efforts that companies use to attract leads on the page/website that the visitor is currently viewing. Rather than using a specific landing page, the business captures the lead from whatever site page the visitor has hit.

Most news websites, eCommerce sites, and consumer blogs tend to use some type of on-page lead capture. As a cybersecurity company you are no exception. Some recommended software that allows for this type of lead generation includes SumoMe (welcome mat, list builder, scroll box, triggered pop ups), Optinmonster (exit intent, full screen welcome gate, sidebar forms), OptiMonk (exit intent, inactivity pop up, scroll, dynamic text), Optin Forms (embedded in-page forms) and Wistia (video integration).

Adapting your website for on-page lead capture is a great first step. But placing a sign-in sheet and asking for a visitor’s email simply won’t cut it, as many will be hesitant to give it to you for various reasons. The good news is that there are a number of effective methods that you can use to earn their trust:

hands-holding-letters-tips-500pxGive them a reason why – Why, with all the free content that’s available, should they give you their email address? What do you offer that justifies giving you something that nowadays is seen as incredibly personal? Think long and hard about your pitch, and do your best to provide potential clients with true value.

Trigger emotions – While simplicity is a must, creativity is still highly valued. Triggering emotions with words or images can be a powerful way to get people excited about the idea of hearing more from you in the near future.

Keep it simple – Assume you have only a few seconds to give them a reason to sign up, because their mouse is already inching closer to clicking the X on your message. The more they have to read, the less likely they’re going to accept the lead request and give you their information.

Add visuals – Impressive visuals capture attention in ways that words often cannot, and in today’s increasingly visual world, adding some complementary images can assist you in your quest to trigger emotions.

A/B test everything – Finally, don’t be afraid to doubt yourself. Take risks, try different things, and test all of your weapons to see which one is getting you the best reaction. Something as simple as font size can have a very different impact on your results, but you won’t know unless you put it out there in front of a bunch of eyes.

Above all else, recognize your audience. You’ll generate far more leads when you know what the needs of your visitors are than you will if you’re in the dark.

Taking Advantage of Social Media

Another great tool for finding leads as a cybersecurity company is via social media (yes really!), as it allows you to display even more of your personality. Of course, it takes time and effort to plan your next moves and figure out ways to develop a consistent voice and brand, but in the end this helps you differentiate yourself, and builds trust with potential leads.

Products such as Socedo can be quite effective here, as it allows you to first connect with your prospects on Twitter, then automatically filters them into your database with their email addresses so you can nurture them further. This is a new found tactic of combining outbound strategies with inbound strategies (without buying a list!) as you have essentially warmed up a cold lead using a very natural action of today – connecting on Social Media.

However, when it comes to effective strategies to improve social media lead generation, you may want to consider the following:

Ask powerful questions – Any time you can get someone thinking, you’re creating a space in their mind for your business. Asking the right questions encourages people to participate in a conversation that involves you as well as other followers.

It’s social media…so try to be social – People are more likely to be interested in following you when they know you’re managed by real human beings who aren’t afraid to engage in some back and forth, no matter how sensitive the topic. That means interacting with the people that like and comment, answering questions, and showing you’re actually listening.

Send them to your site – Social media can adapt very well with your on-page lead capture campaign. Create content your followers want to see more of, and then develop an on-page strategy that takes them further down the funnel.

Social media, when used correctly, is a tool that can give your cybersecurity business a whole lot of character, and that can be an extremely powerful tool for finding and capturing potential leads.

Additional Lead Generation Tactics

A number of additional (and useful) strategies include posting interactive contact such as surveys and games, and of course videos, infographics, and other forms of digital content which can be powerful additions to the written content, keeping people on-page longer and giving them more reason to believe you can assist them with their needs.

In the end, cybersecurity businesses that make a point of listening to their customers and reinventing themselves by implementing new and engaging messages and strategies are going to be the ones that stay relevant and attract those precious leads.

 

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CYBERSECURITY TRENDS MARKETING IN 2017

WHAT WILL CYBERSECURITY MARKETING LOOK LIKE IN 2017?

 

technology-1

Wars are no longer fought on the battlefield. Wars are now fought in cyberspace.

They are fought from behind computers, with keyboards as the weapons and sensitive information as the casualties. The dangers of hacking may have come into greater prominence after the United States presidential election, but the growing need for better cybersecurity has been growing even more apparent for years, with major organizations on the receiving end of attacks, including Yahoo! (now Altaba), Oracle, Sony, Anthem and JP Morgan Chase.

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