This blog was originally published on CyFIR.com and has been reposted as-is here following eSentire’s acquisition of CyFIR Inc. in June 2021. As of the date of the acquisition, no changes have been made to the content below.
Today, most corporate information is created and recorded digitally. As a result, Corporate Security Departments need tools that provide visibility and control of a company’s digital environment. The following use case highlights how CyFIR Internal Investigation Services can support Corporate Security needs by safeguarding sensitive materials and providing insight into an employee’s network activity.
As Director of Corporate Security, Sydney had a busy job. The company operated in 14 countries across three continents, which created numerous risks to physical and information security. As a software business, one of the most important goals for her department was safeguarding intellectual property (IP), a task that continued to grow in complexity as the company expanded into new markets.
While many of the threats the company faced were external, Sydney also feared that one day a disgruntled employee might attempt to access and exfiltrate sensitive materials. Many countries in which the company operated lacked robust legal protection, and so it was critical to prevent their IP from leaving the organization.
To reduce the risk of IP theft, Sydney had introduced a system for evaluating risk for employees with access to sensitive materials. Moreover, Sydney knew that employees were more likely to exfiltrate sensitive data after receiving a disciplinary action. Using the CyFIR Enterprise Platform, Sydney implemented a procedure that automatically placed employees on a data monitoring program whenever any disciplinary action was taken against them.
Two months later, an employee working on one of their most sensitive programs was involved in a workplace dispute with a supervisor. Following protocol, Corporate Security placed file tracking filters on the employee’s system. These monitoring systems would alert Corporate Security if the employee attached removable media to his machine or began accessing files that matched several protected keywords. Later that night, Sydney received an alert that the employee was copying data from a network device to a USB drive attached to a company workstation. She immediately dispatched a team of security personnel to the workstation where the employee was caught red-handed. Since Sydney was notified of the activity before he could leave the building, no information was lost.
Digital Forensics Capabilities for Today’s Enterprise Needs
Sydney’s story demonstrates why Corporate Security Departments need tools to help manage complex, geographically distributed information systems that contain sensitive and proprietary information. By enabling security professionals to monitor access to network systems and even track the activity of targeted employees, CyFIR can significantly improve a company’s security posture. With CyFIR, companies gain the visibility and control necessary to effectively safeguard against potential IP thefts, pilfering of company lists, and other misuses of corporate systems.
Some of the key takeaways from this example include:
- When it comes to safeguarding intellectual property, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of dealing with the fallout. CyFIR’s speed and scalability enable companies to manage complex systems of digital assets without significant overhead.
- The CyFIR Enterprise Platform is capable of monitoring access to sensitive data and systems no matter where they are stored on a company’s network, simplifying the challenge of managing information security across a large or distributed IT infrastructure.
- Monitoring and tracking of targeted employees can be initiated instantaneously and remotely, allowing security measures to be initiated directly following specific events when potential misconduct has a higher likelihood of occurring.
