Navigating the Cybersecurity Landscape: The Imperative of Platformisation in India

Technology, communications, and the workforce have undergone a seismic shift over the past few decades. When I embarked on my career, the role of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) was largely centered around securing physical campuses and data centers through traditional firewalls. However, as applications began to virtualize and cloud adoption surged, the cybersecurity landscape transformed dramatically. Today, organizations face a complex web of security challenges that require a more integrated approach to protect against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.

The Evolution of Cybersecurity Tools

In the early days, CISOs relied heavily on physical firewalls to inspect incoming and outgoing traffic. As the digital landscape evolved, so did the tools at our disposal. Software firewalls emerged to cater to virtualized applications, and with the rise of cloud computing, cloud-based firewalls became the norm. The advent of the hybrid workforce further complicated matters, leading to the demand for Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solutions that could provide secure access to applications regardless of location.

However, as threats evolved, organizations began to adopt an array of point products—such as data loss prevention (DLP), cloud access security brokers (CASBs), domain name system (DNS) protection, and malware detection—to fill the gaps left by traditional firewalls. This patchwork approach, while well-intentioned, has resulted in chaos.

The Fragmentation Challenge in India

In India, the cybersecurity landscape is even more complex. Many organizations grapple with a multitude of security tools, often struggling to integrate and manage these diverse solutions effectively. According to research from Palo Alto Networks, a typical Indian organization employs approximately 32 different security tools. This fragmentation not only creates blind spots but also leads to operational inefficiencies.

The ongoing cybersecurity talent shortage exacerbates these challenges. With a limited pool of skilled professionals, organizations find it increasingly difficult to respond to basic incidents, as alerts and logs must be manually correlated across various tools. This fragmented approach often results in ineffective responses to multistage attacks, leaving organizations vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated threats.

The Rise of Sophisticated Cyber Threats

As cyberattacks become more rapid and intense, attackers are leveraging black market hacks-as-a-service and advanced AI models to craft more effective attacks. Today’s sophisticated threats target multiple surfaces simultaneously, exposing the limitations of relying on disparate cybersecurity point products. While these solutions may alert organizations to potential problems, they often fall short in providing comprehensive remediation.

For instance, the 2024 Unit 42 Attack Surface Threat Report indicates that organizations are exposed to an average of over 300 new services monthly, contributing to nearly 32% of new high or critical cloud exposures. This alarming statistic underscores the urgency for organizations, both in India and globally, to address these challenges head-on.

The Complexity of Cloud Security

The rapid pace of technological advancements further complicates the cybersecurity landscape. AI-powered attacks are becoming increasingly prevalent, with attackers using AI to develop sophisticated threats that can bypass traditional detection methods. In India, enterprises are also grappling with the complexities of cloud security. The 2024 Cloud-Native Security Report reveals that while India ranks second globally in AI adoption—with 58% of organizations utilizing AI for code optimization—43% of security professionals believe that AI-powered threats will outpace traditional detection methods. This highlights the pressing need for advanced security solutions that can adapt to the evolving threat landscape.

The Case for Platformisation

To achieve optimal security outcomes, organizations must move away from a fragmented approach and embrace platformisation—a unified system that integrates all security functions. By consolidating various security capabilities into a single platform, organizations can streamline operations, enhance visibility, and improve response times. This approach not only reduces the complexity of managing multiple point products but also enables a more coherent and effective security strategy.

Key Benefits of Platformisation

1. Cost Reduction: By consolidating tools, organizations can significantly reduce costs associated with managing multiple security solutions.

2. Consistent Security Outcomes: Integrated solutions provide better and more consistent security outcomes, ensuring that all components work together seamlessly.

3. Unified Management: A unified platform allows for consistent policy enforcement and streamlined security operations, reducing the administrative burden on security teams.

4. Holistic Threat Detection: Integration of data from various sources offers a comprehensive view of the security landscape, improving threat detection and response capabilities.

5. Enhanced AI Models: AI models benefit from diverse datasets, enhancing their ability to detect and respond to sophisticated threats. Comprehensive data allows for the identification of anomalies and advanced threats across multiple domains.

Conclusion

By adopting platformisation and leveraging AI-driven tools, businesses can streamline their security operations, enhance visibility across cloud environments, and address vulnerabilities more effectively. In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, integrating cloud and on-premise security into a cohesive platform is essential for Indian organizations to remain resilient and agile against future cyberattacks.

As we navigate this complex cybersecurity landscape, it is imperative for organizations to rethink their approach and invest in unified security solutions that can adapt to the challenges of tomorrow. The time for change is now, and the path forward lies in embracing a holistic, integrated approach to cybersecurity.

Anand Oswal
Senior Vice President and General Manager of Network Security at Palo Alto Networks.