Even the mightiest, most prestigious companies and enterprises are not exempt from the advanced threats of cyber attackers. In the ever-evolving cybersecurity threat landscape, an organization's security team like yours needs robust security measures for network security, endpoint security, threat detection, anomaly detection, data protection, security monitoring, application security and information security.

Consider the following scenario: you are asked by your leadership to find dedicated time for threat hunting activities within your network. After some time, access to the shiny new tool of choice is granted and you are super excited to get started. You log into the tool and are greeted with a lovely search bar; how do you proceed from here? The tool presenting the blank search bar is undoubtedly powerful and feature packed.

So, you want to be a cybersecurity analyst. You’ll be pleased to know it’s a profession with a strong job outlook, thanks to the increasing importance of cybersecurity. With the rise in high-profile data breaches, privacy concerns and rapid technological advancements, there is a greater demand for cybersecurity analysts now than ever.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced new regulations for public companies requiring them to disclose a “material cybersecurity incident” via formal report due four business days after a company determines that a cybersecurity incident is material. This is creating a lot of buzz, with companies worried if they will be prepared.

Within the security community of late, the focus has been on “shifting left”, and while that has merit, it is somewhat myopic missing some of the realities of defense in practice. Instead, I propose a simple framework to help guide initiatives that will “level up” defenses and greatly improve security postures wholistically. Some license is taken in terminology in order to keep things simple, memorable, and applicable.