Top 10 Takeaways: National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

It’s a done deal. The month of October is in the books—and with it the conclusion of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. But by no means does it spell the end of Ivanti’s commitment to helping our customers around the globe continually fortify their IT security. As a quick wrap up, here are 10 key takeaways from Ivanti’s efforts to support this U.S. Department of Homeland Security public-awareness initiative:

#1. The quantity of IT security-related content packed into a single month was timely, massive, and valuable. This included more than 30 blogs from our product management experts and thought leaders, Security Controls boot camps, a Cybersecurity Virtual Event, and more. Here’s just a sampling of the blogs that were posted throughout the month:

• Windows Patch Management: The Best Practices You Need to Start Today
• Keeping Your Browser Safe is a Hard Day’s Night
• Securing End-of-Life Windows Platforms
• All Incidents Aren’t the Same: Time for Your Security-Incident Management Plan
• Reduce the Gap Between Exposure and Remediation
• Security – Better Together
• 10 Reasons Why IT Asset Management is Key to Cybersecurity

#2. Participants in our Security Controls Boot Camp webinars brought their toughest IT security questions to a panel of experts ready to help. In case you missed them, Ivanti’s Erica Azad provided a succinct, informative summary of each webinar in her October 23 blog post. You can still access these webinars:

• September 26: How to Cut Through the “Fog of More” to Achieve a Solid Security Foundation
• October 3: Privilege Management for an Unpredictable World
• October 10: Application Control - Maintenance Headache or Manageable Solution?
• October 17: Plug Your Patching Holes with Ivanti Security Controls

#3. In the October 17 webinar above, co-presenter David Murray said: “Understanding and managing vulnerabilities has become a continuous activity requiring significant time, attention and resources. Attackers have access to the same information. When researchers report new vulnerabilities, a race starts among all parties, including attackers, vendors, and defenders. Organizations that do not scan for vulnerabilities and proactively address discovered flaws, face a significant likelihood of having their computer systems compromised.”

#4. The Wednesday, October 9 “Patch Tuesday” webinar, where security experts recapped the Microsoft and third-party security patches released on Patch Tuesday.

#5. The first-ever Cybersecurity Summit Virtual Event “Insights to Combat Today’s Evolving Threats,” that included speakers and sponsors from CrowdStrike, Morphisec, Forrester, Integral Consulting, Kenna Security, Lynx Technology, Sirius, and Ivanti. The keynote speaker of this on-demand event was Dr. Chase Cunningham, a Principal Analyst at Forrester, responsible for guiding client initiatives related to security operations center planning and optimization, counter-threat operations, encryption, network security, and Zero Trust concepts and implementation.

Other presentations from the Summit include:

Title	Presenter(s)
Keynote: Cybersecurity as a Business Enabler	Dr. Chase Cunningham, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Adversary Tradecraft and the Importance of Speed to Take Action	Chris Kachigan, Sr. Director, Solutions Architecture, Crowdstrike
A Proactive Prevention Strategy to Reduce Risk	Andrew Homer, VP of Business Development, Morphisec
CISO Panel Discussion: The Current and Future of IT Security Strategy	Peter Green, vCISO Adviser, Sirius Computer Solutions Phil Richards, CISO, Ivanti Dan Anderson, Lifescan Ryan Layton, CEO, Secuvant
Don’t Fix That! Learning to Focus on the Vulnerabilities that Matter Most	Jeff Aboud, Director of Product Marketing, Kenna Security
Integrated Risk Management = Enterprise-Level, Strategic Decision Making	Gina Mahin, CEO, Lynx Technology Partners
Risk-Based Prioritization in the Trenches	Chris Goettl, Director of Product Management, Ivanti Chris Wakulik, Cybersecurity Engineer Andrew Homer, VP of Business Development, Morphisec Jeff Aboud, Director of Product Marketing, Kenna Security

#6. In connection with the Cybersecurity Summit Virtual Event mentioned above and with an October Halloween theme, Ivanti CISO Phil Richards published the blog Threat Thursday: Haunted by Breaches.

#7. The CIS Controls from the Center for Internet Security that together form a defense-in-depth set of best practices that mitigate the most common attacks against systems and networks.

#8. Gotta get a Goettl. Security evangelist and Ivanti product management director, Chris Goettl, who provides bylines and commentary to SC Magazine, Redmond Magazine, ComputerWorld, ThreatPost, Help Net Security, and other notable security news sources.

#9. Ivanti provides the security controls that experts agree create the highest barriers to real-world attacks—and they dovetail nicely with NCSAM 2019’s message of “Own IT. Secure IT. Protect IT.”

#10. Good thing October has 31 days in it. We needed all of them.