Many sessions at ChannelCon 2017 focused on cybersecurity – identifying, analyzing, preventing and defending against attacks. Two Tools of the Trade sessions put on by CompTIA staff offered insight into the importance of cybersecurity in IoT, the cloud or any network.

In his session titled Tools of the Trade for IT Pros, CompTIA Program Manager, CompTIA Instructor Network, Stephen Schneiter cited a report that estimated the number of IoT devices to increase to 30.7 billion in 2020 and 75.4 billion in 2025.

“We’re talking billions and billions of devices,” he said, adding that this year, 60 percent of global manufacturers will use analytics from connected devices to improve connectivity.

He said that when it comes to IoT devices, they need to be:

• Low cost.
• Long range.
• Low power.
• Secure.

“Communication between devices and smartphones can be weak,” he said. “We are rapidly reaching a point where we need to take action about securing our devices.”

The answer comes from planning – knowing what you’re going to do and implementing it right the first time.

CompTIA Director, Products, IT Skills Certification, Patrick Lane, also discussed IoT security in his session, Tools of the Trade: Security Analyst Skills for IoT, the Cloud or Any Network.

“CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) is about securing every network, everywhere, regardless of the devices,” he said.

He called security analytics a skill that everyone in cybersecurity needs. It’s about trying to find anomalies – things that shouldn’t be there, like unfamiliar IP addresses or domains that have been reported as bad.

“Security analytics are something everyone needs,” he said. “It sounds specialized, but it’s not in a post-2014 world.”

Lane covered the three main types of tools used by security analysts:

• Network protocol analyzers
• Network intrusion detection systems or host intrusion detection systems
• Security information and event management (SIEM) systems

While many organizations are simply purchasing SIEMs to check a compliance box, he said they don’t help unless you configure them to your systems and train employees on how to use them.

“SIEMs are getting easier and easier to use,” Lane said.

SIEMs stand out from the other tools because they use correlation, so they learn to understand which alerts are relevant to you and which ones aren’t.

“They have different connections with all different devices and make comparisons,” Lane said. “Through these amazing relationships and using intelligence, they can determine a lot of information.”

Catch this and all the 2017 ChannelCon sessions individually or in our rebroadcast on September 19-20. Register today to hear insights from IT leaders, gain actionable tips to help you do your job better and earn continuing education units (CEUs) toward the renewal of your CompTIA certifications. 

“IoT Tools of the Trade for IT Pros” has been CEU-approved for CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Cloud+ recertification.

“Tools of the Trade: Security Analyst Skills for IoT, the Cloud, or Any Network” has been CEU-approved for CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Cloud+, CompTIA CySA+ and CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) recertification.