fbpx
Search
Close this search box.

The Alert Who Cried Malware

Malware icon of a man sitting at a computer desk.

What Exactly Is Malware?

Malware is any software that is designed to cause damage to your computer, server, or computer network. Viruses, ransomware, and spyware are all forms of Malware. Malware has been around and a threat since the early 1970s when the Creeper Virus first appeared.

Malware steals personal data and can hold this data for ransom and demand a payout to keep. Cybercriminals are becoming more and more sophisticated with their methods. How Does Malware cause IT alert fatigue?

My earliest experience with alert fatigue was when I was growing up and heard the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. After each false alarm, the townspeople warn the boy that he shouldn’t call for help unless there is real danger. Unfortunately, after causing people to ignore his cries for help, the boy is attacked and killed by a wolf. While no one has ever been attacked by a wolf for missing an anti-virus alert, there can be real world consequences.

What’s Alert Fatigue?

Alert fatigue comes about from IT staff being overwhelmed with a high volume of alerts. Most often the alerts are caused by misconfigured applications, devices sending alerts for all events, or from Security Information, Event Managers and SIEMs, not being tuned correctly. Regardless of what causes these alerts, the fire hose of alerts saturates the attention of those who monitor the alerts and can create a situation ripe for an important alarm to be missed.

Why Is It Important to Reduce Alert Fatigue? 

Reducing alert fatigue is dependent on your environment. If you don’t use a SIEM (which you should) you will find that you’re more restricted in how granular you can be with your changes. If you don’t utilize a SIEM, I find it best to prioritize your events. After prioritization, you can gradually alert on more events until you reach the happy median. If utilizing a SIEM, you can take this a step further and ingest all the logs, but then set your own alerting thresholds. With the SIEM, you can correlate data across applications, devices, and geographic locations. With this level of fine-tuning, alert fatigue quickly becomes a thing of the past. This reduction of alert volume allows your staff to be more agile and give proper attention to alerts that warrant concern.

Fine-tuning your alerts is not a finite game, there is no finish line. As adversaries continue to create new threats and weaponize old ones, it’s important to maintain an eye to the horizon for threat intelligence that can be used to further bolster your alerting capabilities. This combination of gathering useful threat intelligence and using it to enhance your defense and alert capabilities provides a level of security that many organizations do not have. 

It takes considerable knowledge and experience to create a finely tuned alert regimen and integrating threat intelligence specialists are not options that many organizations have. After evaluating your own alert tactics you may find that you’re not sure where to go or how to get there, you might not have the knowledge and skillset necessary to take that next step forward, or worse yet you may not have any alerting configured at all. If you find yourself in any of these categories, partnering with a trustworthy, experienced cybersecurity firm will help to lighten your load and provide a sense of comfort. 

Working with a trusted managed service provider like Corsica Technologies reduce alert fatigue and the risk of your organization being targetted for cybercriminals. Give us a call and schedule your initial risk assessment today and see how we can help reduce your business risk.

Corsica Technologies
Corsica provides personalized service and a virtual CIO (vCIO) who serves as a strategic advisor. When it comes to the complex integration of solutions for IT and cybersecurity, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We offer cybersecurity solutions, managed services, digital transformation, resale services, and one-off technology projects. Corsica unifies any combination of these services into a complete, seamless solution.

Related Reads

IT Outsourcing Company Trends - Corsica Technologies

11 Emerging Trends in Technology and IT Outsourcing

Things change fast in the world of technology. From emerging trends in cybersecurity to EDI and data integration, it’s challenging for midmarket companies to meet the technology needs of their internal and external customers. For many organizations, outsourcing is the

Read more
EDI Issues and Challenges - Corsica Technologies

7 Pitfalls To Avoid On Your EDI Journey

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is an essential technology for exchanging transactional data between business partners, also known as Trading Partners in the EDI community. From orders, invoices, and advance shipment notifications to benefit enrollments, claims processing, and payment authorizations, numerous

Read more
Cybersecurity Trends 2024 - Corsica Technologies

10 Cybersecurity Trends Emerging In 2024

When it comes to cybersecurity, things are never static. So far, 2024 is consistent with this theme. We’re seeing a mix of familiar trends intensifying alongside startling new developments. From the cybersecurity skills crunch to AI-powered attacks, 2024 is shaping

Read more

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Stay up-to-date on the Managed Services and Cybersecurity landscape, and be the first to find out about events and special offers.