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Commentary


WHY THE C-SUITE DOESN'T NEED ACCESS TO ALL CORPORATE DATA

If zero trust is to work properly, then it must apply to everyone.
Rajesh Ganesan
Vice President of Product at ManageEngine
December 06, 2021
Source: Dmitriy Shironosov via Alamy Stock Photo
PDF


More than 20 months into a global pandemic, it's become an article of faith that
the best way to keep organizations and critical networks safe is to embrace zero
trust. Under that umbrella, it's assumed that all network access requests
originate from an unsafe location, and every single user should be verified
according to their locations, identities, and the health of their devices.
During the ongoing pandemic, the mantra "Never trust and always verify," has
never been more important.



To review, the key to the zero-trust framework is the principle of least
privilege, which is the notion that all users are provided with the minimum
level of access required to complete a task. Likewise, users should only be
granted access to a particular app, system, or network when they need access.

But here's the kicker: Zero-trust policies must apply to everyone — even those
at the top of the organizational chart, every CXO, director, and
line-of-business leader. Many C-level employees may take umbrage with the fact
that they are not always provided with access to all content within a network;
nevertheless, this is the best approach. If C-level users do not need to access
data to complete a task, they should not be granted access.



C-Level Executives Are Prime Targets
Failure to hold C-level users to the same standards as other employees can be a
fatal mistake. After all, bad actors are savvy; they realize that the best entry
point into a network is often through C-level users — because far too often,
these are the users with unbridled access to sensitive data.



Besides often having privileged access to sensitive corporate data, C-level
execs also tend to work long hours, receive a barrage of emails, and have
valuable reputations. If a senior executive's information is compromised, bad
actors can gain leverage. After all, if a C-level executive was the cause of a
data breach, the bad actor can likely do some reputational damage just by
disclosing that fact. So perhaps it is no surprise that it is rare to hear about
the exact causes of a data breach.

As Frank Satterwhite, principal cybersecurity consultant at Frankfurt-based 1600
Cyber, explains, "Every time you hear about a big company being hacked, you see
the CEO get on television and say, 'We're so sorry. We're implementing these new
technologies. We're going to be more protected than ever. But they never address
one thing: Almost 90% of the attacks required someone to do something wrong or
make a mistake." Perhaps the reason CEOs so rarely address this human element is
because a member of the C-suite was the culprit

Given that C-level execs are the most likely to be targeted, it is logical to
assume that some whaling and social engineering attacks on C-level personnel are
successful. Nevertheless, to broadcast this tidbit would cost the company
further reputational damage.



Monitoring, Analytics Are Key
Within the network, all communication should be encrypted, and all anomalous
activity should be flagged. Through a unified endpoint management solution, it's
easy for IT personnel to verify users' identities, as well as the health of
their endpoints. Seeing as many C-level employees feel entitled to have access
to all applications at all times, it's especially important to engage in
privileged session monitoring.

By monitoring all privileged sessions, IT personnel can identify any anomalous
behavior or failed login attempts from C-level users' accounts. These data
points can help disabuse any C-levels of the notion that they should always have
access to sensitive information. Additionally, as dictated by the principle of
least privilege, all privileged sessions should be closed as soon as possible.

Through the use of a good VPN monitoring solution, IT personnel can pull VPN
logs from a firewall, and then generate security reports for all C-level
executives. These privileged user behavior analytics help to create
context-aware correlations. After IT personnel combine privileged access data
points with endpoint event logs, illuminating correlations can arise.

Given that top execs often have accounts with high privileges, their actions can
lead to bigger consequences; for example, if a CEO inadvertently clicks on a
malware link, the malware will immediately take effect due to the inherent high
privileges on the CEO's account. While monitoring the CEO's access, any actions
that happen due to their behavior will appear in event logs. These data points
are then correlated in order to reconcile the threat and to ascertain that the
malware launch was, indeed, due to the CEO's access. Again, these data points
can help to convince C-level employees that they don't need access to everything
all the time.

Embracing Zero Trust Without Exceptions
According to a survey we conducted, 58% of North American respondents reported a
rise in phishing attacks. Moreover, 46% of North American respondents said
endpoint network attacks were on the rise, and 37% reported an increase in
malware attacks.

The unfortunate reality is that the recent migration to remote work has created
some security challenges, and C-level employees need to be working alongside IT
personnel to keep their networks safe. The last thing organizations need is
C-level users refusing to adopt a zero-trust framework and acting as if the
rules don't apply to them.

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