Cybersecurity: As firms employ automation, cybersecurity is a strategic imperative

By Carl Mazzanti

I often encounter a dangerous misconception among firms regarding automation and cybersecurity: Leaders believe they are separate functions requiring separate budgets, separate teams, and separate strategies.

Unfortunately, this siloed thinking can create vulnerabilities that cybercriminals exploit. With the help of a managed services provider, however, firms can tread an integrated path where office automation and cybersecurity are intertwined as part of a single operational ecosystem.

Each automated process creates new digital pathways through your firm. When an accounts payable system automatically processes invoices, it is accessing financial systems, vendor databases, and payment networks. When a customer relationship management platform syncs data across devices, it is creating multiple points of access to sensitive information. When associates use automated scheduling tools that integrate with their email and calendar, they are granting permissions for access beyond what they might realize.

Firms of all sizes, from solos to BigLaw, can experience devastating security breaches not because firewalls failed, but because an automated process provided an unexpected pathway into critical systems.

Many firms have limited visibility into these automated connections. IT departments often discover shadow IT – technological wrinkles that firm personnel have implemented without formal approval – only after a security incident occurs. An associate might connect a third-party automation tool to streamline workflow, inadvertently granting that external service access to confidential data. The automation delivers productivity benefits in the short term but creates security exposures that may not manifest until much later.

The solution is not to resist automation but to structure it securely from the outset. This requires a fundamental shift in how firms approach both automation and cybersecurity. Security cannot be an afterthought bolted onto automated processes. It must be a foundational design principle.

Transparency is key

First, firms need comprehensive visibility. You cannot secure what you cannot see. A cloud-native security operations center (SOC) should be an important part of any cyber defense plan. The SOC is a central command center. It includes tools and technologies that help a firm monitor and protect its network, analyzing and responding to security threats. The primary functions of an effective SOC include:

• 24/7/365 monitoring. A SOC platform will continually monitor IT infrastructure, detecting suspicious activity and possible exploits, and quickly launching responses.
• Triage and analysis. The SOC analyzes log data, combining security information and event management(SIEM) technologies with human engineering oversight.
• Incident response. Trained SOC teams can respond to security incidents in real time, engaging in containment, eradication, recovery, and remediation operations.
• Compliance management. The SOC platform helps ensure that all systems, tools, and processes follow data privacy rules.

 

The principle of least privilege

Automated processes should have access only to the specific data and systems they need to function – nothing more. Privileged identity management enables granular control over service accounts and automated workflows, providing just-in-time access and approval workflows for elevated permissions. Many firms make the error of granting administrative-level permissions simply because it was easier to allow broad access than to carefully define narrow requirements. This is organizational negligence masquerading as “efficiency.”

Robust authentication should also be implemented for all automated processes. Multi-factor authentication should extend beyond human users to include service accounts. Flexible, policy-based authentication mechanisms for both people and systems will enable firms to enforce security requirements based on user identity, location, device state, and risk level. Microsoft’s Azure Key Vault and similar programs store and tightly control access to tokens, passwords, certificates, and API (application programming interface) keys used by automated processes. These practices seem obvious, yet I continue to see breaches resulting from their absence.

And because firms handle personally identifiable information (PII) and other sensitive records,  data should be encrypted throughout its lifecycle. A cybersecurity services provider can arm firms with tools like Microsoft BitLocker to encrypt data, and the Microsoft Defender suite of services, which uses AI to automate prevention and remediation, providing 24/7 security.

Keep in mind that the intersection of automation and cybersecurity ultimately depends on human judgment, human oversight, and human accountability. So a managed services provider should make training available for a firm’s staff – not just on how to use automation, but on the security implications of those tools.

The convergence of cybersecurity and office automation is not a challenge to be solved but a reality to be managed. Success requires technical sophistication, the right security tools properly integrated, organizational discipline, and unwavering commitment from leadership.

 

Carl Mazzanti is president of eMazzanti Technologies in Hoboken, N.J., providing IT consulting services for businesses ranging from home offices to multinational corporations. The company can be contacted at: 866-362-9926.