74% of cybersecurity professionals consider centralized cloud security at least very helpful. Only 7% consider it not at all helpful. Is the majority misguided?
Highly centralized cybersecurity solutions promise better visibility into threats and risks across the organization. But they also come with vulnerabilities, as the entire system can be compromised if attackers breach the centralized controls.
On the other side, decentralized security increases redundancy and forces attackers to penetrate more points across a system but may suffer from a lack of coordination.
Centralized and decentralized cybersecurity have their pros and cons, and in a way, they complement each other. So, the sensible option runs along the middle. Yet, the real question still persists: how (de)centralized should enterprise cybersecurity be?
Getting this balance right is key as companies aim to manage risks without hampering business agility and this article will give you the tools to answer the question.
Cybersecurity Strategy: Factors to Consider
Some factors to consider when finding the right balance include the size and complexity of the enterprise network, the industry and regulatory environment, the enterprise’s risk tolerance, and the enterprise’s budget and resources.
Size and Complexity
Larger and more complex organizations require more centralized governance and oversight to manage risk across many intricate assets, systems, and locations. Decentralization can lead to security gaps.
On the other hand, smaller, simpler organizations can be more flexible with decentralization, as risks are lower, and threats are easier to control locally, so much so that virtual CISOs are increasingly attractive for small startups.
Nature and Tolerance of Risks
Risk-averse organizations tend to require more centralized control to minimize uncertainty, identify potential blind spots, and consolidate visibility.
Centralized oversight helps coordinate interdependent security elements across units, providing clear accountability to executives for managing security risks. In addition, central control enables rapid, coordinated response to emerging threats before incidents can spread.
Industry and Regulatory Environment
Heavily regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, and energy must adhere to strict security controls and compliance regimes. This necessitates centralized security to uniformly enforce regulations across the organization. Otherwise, there could be compliance gaps.
In industries with laxer regulations, organizations have greater flexibility to decentralize and customize security based on local needs, rather than top-down mandates.
Budget and Resources
The high cost of switching to centralized cybersecurity contributes to why companies with smaller security budgets tend to settle for a decentralized model.
Centralizing security requires high-grade security tools and systems for consolidated monitoring, analytics, threat detection, etc. It also includes the cost of procuring infrastructure and software for securely collecting and correlating security data across the organization.
The Place of Decentralization
Business leaders must understand that no organization is completely one or the other. In fact, it is excellent that decentralization makes security the responsibility of every single person, especially given the rise of cloud, mobile, and remote work.
Without some decentralization, it’s impossible to maintain consistency in cybersecurity when the workforce is dispersed. This is extremely critical as employees have become the first line of defense in the case of rife phishing and other kinds of threats.
However, intrusion detection, data loss prevention, endpoint protection, and incident response, all require joint coordination. Thus, it would seem that while decentralized security spreads out accountability, without any central coordination, it could result in fragmentation and inconsistencies.
The strengths of centralization lie in cybersecurity governance, risk management, and reporting. These are activities that require broad consistency and alignment on security priorities, acceptable risks, compliance requirements, and other strategic imperatives.
It’s important that a central team is enabled to coordinate risk assessments, track remediation, and report to executives as they consolidate data across the rest of the organization.
At the same time, decentralized, local units and non-IT employees should be empowered to monitor for anomalies and alert the right team. Crucially, this two-way collaboration will help foster agility and resilience.
Avoiding Over-Centralization
In practical terms, what does balance look like? And how can an organization avoid over-centralization in its quest to bring more visibility and coordination to its infrastructure?
- Maintain two-way communication between the central and smaller teams. Smaller teams are supposed to provide the context for higher-level decision-making.
- Phase in centralization gradually in collaboration with business units. Don’t force top-down changes overnight.
- Set security standards at the central level but ensure that everyone is trained in basic cybersecurity practices, so they know what level of responsibility pertains to them. Don’t compel blind compliance.
- Document decentralization options, standards, and pre-approved exceptions to central policies. Don’t make smaller teams have to request permission repeatedly.
- The key is ensuring that central governance and risk management do not become overly bureaucratic, inflexible, and demoralizing to the general staff.
Conclusion
Finding the right balance between centralized and decentralized cybersecurity is crucial for managing risk while enabling business agility. Rather than treating them as opposing forces, organizations should aim for a collaborative approach where central governance and strategy guide and align with empowered units.
With the right balance, enterprises can build cyber resilience while supporting innovation. Most importantly, as risks evolve, business leaders must continuously reevaluate their security strategy to determine if the current model provides optimal visibility, agility, and protection.
