We are at a point in which organizations are more than ever depending on dozens of cybersecurity tools to protect their important data from dangerous hackers. A new analysis shows that just because a jurisdiction has these tools doesn’t mean they’re protected. On average, it takes companies an average of 43 different cybersecurity tools. Even so, they still repeatedly suffer huge attacks due to misconfigurations. What we learned from that 2024 calamity is that we face something dangerous. A Google Ads misconfiguration left the personal data of 4.7 million Blue Shield of California members in the open.
As this digital world constantly changes, the other side of the battlefield does too – and that’s with tactics attackers use. As new vulnerabilities are discovered at an alarming rate, organizations can’t keep up with even annual full audits. The landscape is constantly shifting in technology and cyber, so the need to push is introducing that dynamic approach. Approach configuration as an integrated practice, not a one-time initiative.
The Breach of Blue Shield of California
Shockingly, just months later early in 2024 – Blue Shield of California suffered a breach affecting 300,000 individuals. Because of a simple website misconfiguration, the personal information of millions was publicly exposed. The event stands as a grim reminder of the dangers that lurk from technical mistakes.
The breach saw millions of passport numbers and other sensitive data leak unexpectedly through Google Ads, demonstrating the serious impacts that can stem from poor configuration management. This incident emphasizes that even organizations with robust cybersecurity measures can suffer breaches if they fail to maintain optimal configurations.
“Misconfiguration of technical security controls is a leading cause for the continued success of attacks.” – Gartner report
This breach mirrors a larger trend we’re seeing across sectors. A significant percentage of security leaders reported experiencing breaches in the past year due to failed or misconfigured controls, indicating a pressing need for organizations to reassess their security strategies.
The Challenge of Evolving Threats
That’s because as cloud environments continue to expand and shift, cybersecurity threats are getting smarter and more sophisticated. With constant technological evolution, organizations are always having to play catch up with their security. Teams that view configuration as a one-and-done project will be doomed to failure. This approach greatly increases their exposure to emerging attack vectors.
As Gartner points out, no security team can fly solo and be successful. Protecting the web interconnected nature of today’s digital environments means getting cross-organizational teams to work together and communicate. This collaborative approach helps ensure that these detection rules are properly tuned to detect the most relevant threats and therefore address the current threat landscape.
“Optimal configuration of technical security controls is a moving target, not a set-and-forget or a default setting.” – Gartner
Companies need to accept that sustaining security efficacy is where the actual difficulty is. Taking security precautions isn’t enough. It’s not enough to just set them and forget them—not when you need to fight bad bots as they evolve and innovate.
Measuring Security Effectiveness
Measuring security effectiveness is the first crucial step to establishing a strong and resilient cybersecurity environment. To do so, organizations need to set metrics and benchmarks to assess where they’re at with their existing security and find out what’s lacking. This evaluation process should be ongoing, not just once a year. To ensure we are always several steps ahead of these ever-evolving threats and vulnerabilities.
The future of cybersecurity will be won by those organizations whose maturity comes from a proactive, holistic approach — one that views security as a continuously evolving organism. For that reason, you need to be measuring effectiveness constantly. You have to be sure you’re constantly tuning and validating the effectiveness of your security measures day in and day out.