#thinkcybersec: Don’t Presume Legacy Tech is a Negative Thing

Legacy technology is not often as poor as it is generally considered to be, according to a panel of CISO speakers.

Speaking throughout the Think Cybersecurity for Government conference, Bill McCluggage, handling director of Laganview Associates, mentioned that legacy technology “is not all bad” and even though all companies have some type of legacy technology and accrue not only tech personal debt but legacy issues, the favourable facet is that “it is steady and we recognize it.”

He stated that as well as remaining moderately nicely understood and guarded at the rear of levels, the worries can be in acquiring supplier assistance and not becoming in a position to adapt to the present day threat landscape, as nicely as struggling with database issues. “What we produce today will be legacy tomorrow we have got it and have to are living with it.”

Paul Jackson, head of community sector at Tanium, reported the obstacle across govt is there is “no scarcity of programs seeking at electronic transformation” and it is prevalent for them to battle with legacy technology. “I discuss to hospitals and universities, and they convey to you what [the network is] created up of, and they have not received a hand on what they have obtained. It is tricky to protect and really hard to change.” He suggested “getting the principles proper, as the faster you get a tackle on it, the better it is for your natural environment.”

Greg van der Gaast, CISO of Salford College, claimed legacy technology “tends to be a regarded quantity” as most environments have thousands of endpoints, but with legacy technology it is identified about and driving levels of safety. “It is like the loved ones jewels you preserve them safe and sound and not hanging out of the window,” he claimed. “It was claimed that methods are legacy the minute they strike production, but that must not be the case.”

McCluggage agreed, saying with legacy technology we know that it is steady, and you know the ports of entry, but holding it managed, with the correct men and women, is a obstacle. “Over the up coming 12 months to 18 months we will have import duties run off backend legacy methods, and they will be the engines of the condition,” he explained.

Jackson built the issue that a lot of attackers focus on vulnerabilities in the legacy estate, so people would be proposed to just take a “holistic look at.” Also, van der Gaast said if you do not have consciousness of your surroundings around legacy programs you are not able to be absolutely sure it is isolated: “if you make layers it demands awareness of these levels.”

Some elements of this post are sourced from:
www.infosecurity-journal.com