Agile Cybersecurity

When identifying and prioritizing threats, cybersecurity teams have many options available. Plenty of platforms, frameworks, and techniques exist to help prioritize the constant stream of threats that companies face. The problem is that there are too many options available, and many are cost-prohibitive. Consequently, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can be rapidly overwhelmed by these options, making it difficult to identify easy-to-implement, cost-efficient, yet effective threat management approaches.

In cybersecurity, threat management refers to continuously identifying, analyzing, and mitigating cyber threats to protect an organization’s digital assets, networks, and systems. It is a critical part of cyber risk management and includes multiple security disciplines.

Agile security operations is about implementing an adaptive and iterative approach to monitoring information systems and networks. The goal is to make security operations more adaptable, collaborative and responsive to emerging threats and vulnerabilities.

In the context of security operations, agile can speed up the delivery of impactful monitoring services while maximising value-adding for business stakeholders. Moreover, it can improve alignment with engineering teams so monitoring technologies can continuously evolve.

Security operations centres (SOCs) often operate in the background and within a highly technical context. Moreover, they must deliver operational services under the pressures of service-level objectives. With limited time and visibility, they are always at risk of siloing themselves from the rest of the business.

Agile has been spreading across several industries for many years now, with consulting companies promoting it since at least 2017. Through the vehicle of company transformations, agile methodologies such as SCRUM and SAFe are now being adopted by many commercial enterprises.

Cybersecurity teams are often at the receiving end of such transformations. Agile methodologies are frequently imposed by the business with little guidance. As a result, a solid understanding of agile fundamentals (and how to apply them to cybersecurity) is crucial to ensure security teams can successfully integrate these methodologies.

Agile cybersecurity, often referred to as “Agile Security” or “DevSecOps” (Development, Security, Operations), is an approach incorporating Agile principles and practices, usually through a framework like SCRUM (shown in the below screenshot), into an organization’s security practice.

Typically, the introduction of Agile cybersecurity aims to improve the speed and efficiency of security teams in responding to threats. By integrating a project management methodology that emphasizes iterative development, collaboration and continuous improvement, Agile cybersecurity aims to unlock the following benefits: