How platforms are changing cybersecurity

Organizations around the world are falling behind in building strong enough defenses against cyberthreats.

“While the threat landscape continues to evolve at an unprecedented rate, security budgets and staffing remain stagnant or have begun to shrink. This leaves organizations exposed and struggling to defend against even routine exploitation, malware, and ransom or extortion threats,” says NTT Security Holdings in their 2024 Global Threat Intelligence Report,

The number of organizations that maintain the minimum level of viable cyber resilience – the ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from attacks while maintaining essential business functions – is down 30%, according to the Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2024, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

While large organizations showed gains in this area, the sharp decline was linked to small- and medium-sized organizations, the WEF report finds. 

At the same time, organizations of all sizes are experimenting with and adopting technologies such as GenAI tools without fully understanding the implications for their security postures. Fewer than 10% of the WEF report respondents said they believed that GenAI would give an advantage to defenders over attackers within the next two years.

Why platforms are trending in cybersecurity

It’s clear that many organizations need to build higher and stronger walls – fast. This is where platforms make a difference, as they integrate disparate security solutions into a single, cohesive ecosystem.

The immediate benefits? Centralized security management, streamlined operations and better visibility of their security postures.

But first, let’s take a step back and examine three of the main driving forces behind the move to platforms:

1. Enterprise IT ecosystems are complex: IT teams now have to manage and secure multicloud environments, communication and collaboration tools that support hybrid work, and a growing number of IoT devices – as well as the networks that connect all of this technology.
2. Cyberthreats are getting worse: In 2024, attackers have been “resorting to even more aggressive and unscrupulous tactics to achieve their objectives”, according to the NTT Security Holdings report, but “cybersecurity professionals are lagging at the same time, often stressed to keep pace with more responsibilities and job complexity”. This demands a more proactive, holistic approach to security.
3. There’s a need for agility and scalability: Security solutions that can’t scale or otherwise adapt to deal with evolving threats and new technologies are no good – and they should be able to adapt swiftly, too. A cyberattack can happen in a split second.

Know your security technology trio

There’s a powerful technology trio at work behind these security platforms.

First, they leverage zero trust architecture security – a model that assumes no implicit trust and continuously verifies every access request, regardless of whether it comes from inside or outside the network. The platform approach complements this model by uniting identity management, access controls and continuous monitoring.

This is combined within secure access service edge (SASE), which integrates secure service edge (SSE) capabilities, including zero trust, with comprehensive software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) capabilities with cloud-native security. By converging networking and security, SASE maintains secure access no matter where users, applications or devices are located.

Next, these defenses are strengthened by using AI and machine learning to predict, detect and respond to threats – often proactively, before they can cause any damage or downtime. In the platform context, this gives new firepower to security operations centers.

• ALSO READ → Zero trust, SASE and AI: the power trio that keeps your network safe

What you get from a security platform

Going the platform route for your organization delivers the following benefits:

• Cutting down complexity and costs: Streamlining your security setup with a platform means less hassle, fewer systems to manage and a lighter load on your budget.
• See everything, everywhere: A platform gives you a bird's-eye view of your entire network, helping you to monitor and manage security from one place, with no blind spots.
• Stay ahead of the threats: With smarter tools and real-time insights, you can spot threats before they become serious problems, keeping your defenses strong.
• Ready for whatever comes next: As your organization grows and threats evolve, your security platform adapts, integrating new technologies and keeping you protected in the long term.
• Unified security posture: Consistent security policies across the board are managed in one place so you don’t have to worry about gaps or inconsistencies in your defenses.
• Easy, secure access for everyone: Whether your team’s at home or in the office, they get seamless, secure access to what they need, without sacrificing convenience.

A strong partnership: NTT DATA and Palo Alto Networks

To make a security platform an asset in your organization, you need access to both the technology and the expertise to continuously manage and improve it.

One way to achieve this is to work with NTT DATA and Palo Alto Networks. Our long-running partnership combines NTT DATA’s cloud, security and network services expertise with Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE, which converges SD-WAN, zero trust network access and cloud-delivered security features into a single, unified solution.

Our AI-powered and automation-focused platforms – including Prisma SASE – create a unified framework across your network, security and cloud ecosystem while simplifying management and supercharging your threat detection and response.

At the same time, NTT DATA’s consulting experts solve client-specific challenges and plan the end-to-end architecture needed to support these platforms. 

The power of platforms in action

One of the world’s foremost beverage manufacturers, known for their diverse global portfolio of soft drinks, faced significant challenges in their network and security environment. With over 160 manufacturing sites, warehouses and offices worldwide, they needed a robust, scalable security solution to support their digital transformation.

Experts from NTT DATA and Palo Alto Networks collaborated with the client to develop a unified security strategy that prioritized proactive risk management and a collective understanding of the importance of security across the organization.

Shifting from traditional, hardware-based security to a platform-oriented approach meant the manufacturer’s network infrastructure could adapt to evolving threats and business needs. We also implemented a security solution using Prisma SASE to combine advanced security and networking capabilities into an integrated, unified platform.

Take the next step

These platforms are not just a trend. They are a key evolution in cybersecurity as organizations grow more complex and more vulnerable to breaches.

And, considering the rising threat of ever more devious cyberattacks, there is no time to waste in protecting your organization. Get started now with NTT DATA and Palo Alto Networks to make your business cyber resilient and prepared for any eventuality.