Securonix was recently invited as an ICIT fellow and industry leader to participate in an advisory meeting with senate staffers on the benefits of Behavior Analytics and to help describe the extensive ways in which it can be leveraged for insider and cyber threat detection and risk reduction.

As we sat waiting for our appointment in the senate cafeteria, senators and political figures walked by and the realization on what type of impact our discussion could have began to set in. The opportunity to help set the bar higher for cyber threat detection through data analytics and educate a room - possibly a nation - on the next generation of insider threat detection and mitigation capabilities.

The discussions were engaging, dialog flowed freely, and an appetite to learn and absorb could be felt throughout the room. With the OPM breach and Anthem still showing fresh scars, the importance and need for these discussions is bigger than ever.

Insider threat awareness has dramatically increased over the last 18-24 months, but organizations still focus on external threats, when the very access and data these actors are striving to obtain is available to your internal user population and the modus operandi for the external attackers is to compromise existing internal credentials to obtain access to the data.

The importance of peer analysis, volume spikes, and establishing a baseline of normal behaviors play a pivotal foundation to all conversations around behavior analytics. The complexities of technical vs. non-technical control points, data aggregation and catering to different industries and company sizes all provide their own unique challenges.

It is hard not to feel a great sense of satisfaction at times like these. There is a sense of pride when your daily job includes providing objective analysis that helps other organizations identify how existing technologies can address their insider threat needs. Securonix is leading the innovation for these problems.

To our Securonix partners, customers, and family: we consider these types of moments a reminder that together we are part of a dramatic change in the cyber security space.