Normalize Your Environment

By Kyle Wood · June 2, 2023

In the world of cybersecurity, normalizing an environment refers to the process of establishing a secure baseline of system configuration, activity, and behavior, against which anomalous events can be detected and investigated. This approach is critical in identifying and mitigating threats to your system, as it enables you to quickly identify deviations from the norm, which could be indicative of malicious activity. In this article, we will explore the concept of normalizing an environment and how it can be applied to protect against cybersecurity threats.

What is normalization?

Normalization is the process of establishing a baseline of what is considered "normal" for a given system or environment. This baseline is based on a variety of factors, such as system configuration, user activity, network traffic, and application behavior. By establishing a baseline of normal activity, it becomes possible to identify deviations from this baseline, which could be indicative of security threats.

Normalizing an environment with Trellix security solutions

Normalizing an environment involves a number of steps including configuration management, system hardening, log monitoring, and incident response planning. Establishing sound processes and utilizing Trellix Security Solutions will help organizations normalize their environment and detect and respond to cybersecurity threats. The sections below highlight ways in which Trellix Security Solutions can be used to normalize an environment.

Event and configuration management

Event and Configuration Management involves ensuring all systems within an environment are configured securely and effectively. This includes things like ensuring the latest patches are installed and endpoint security solutions, firewalls and other security controls are configured on all systems. By ensuring that all systems are configured effectively and securely, it becomes easier to establish a baseline of what is considered "normal" for the environment.

Trellix Endpoint Security: Provides advanced endpoint protection against a wide range of cyber threats, including malware, ransomware, and zero-day attacks. It allows organizations to establish a secure baseline for their endpoints by providing real-time threat intelligence and behavioral analysis to detect and block malicious activity. By normalizing endpoint behavior, organizations can detect and respond to anomalies that could indicate a potential security threat.

Trellix Insights: This solution provides a comprehensive and easy to navigate dashboard so you can identify IOCs (Indicators of Compromise), Campaigns (containing the IOCs), and much more. This information can be filtered down into your specific business sector. Another benefit of Insights is the ability to have a picture of your environment based on IOCs seen on your systems (compromised systems), and endpoint coverage and enablement.

System Hardening

System hardening refers to the process of reducing the attack surface of a system by disabling unnecessary services, removing unnecessary software, and configuring security settings. By reducing the attack surface, the likelihood of successful attacks is reduced. In addition, system hardening can help to prevent the spread of malware and other malicious software by limiting the avenues through which they can propagate. Application Management is a key component to system hardening.

Trellix Application Control: This solution helps organizations establish a baseline of application behavior and ensure that only authorized applications are allowed to run on endpoints. It provides granular control over application execution and blocks unauthorized applications, preventing them from executing and potentially compromising the endpoint. By normalizing application behavior, organizations can prevent malicious applications from executing and detect and respond to anomalies that could indicate a potential security threat.

Log Monitoring

Log monitoring involves collecting and analyzing logs from all systems within an environment. This includes things like system logs, application logs, and network logs. By analyzing these logs, it becomes possible to identify anomalous events, such as failed login attempts, unusual network traffic, and unauthorized access attempts. By identifying these events, it becomes possible to investigate and respond to potential security threats.

Trellix ESM (Enterprise Security Management): Trellix ESM is a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution that provides real-time analysis of security alerts generated by various security devices, such as firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems, and endpoint protection solutions. By aggregating and correlating security alerts from different sources, Trellix ESM can identify potential security threats that may have gone unnoticed otherwise. It allows security teams to quickly investigate security incidents, triage alerts, and respond to threats in real-time. By normalizing security event data, Trellix ESM can help organizations establish a baseline of normal activity and detect anomalies that could indicate a potential security threat.

Incident Response Planning

Incident response planning involves preparing for the worst-case scenario by creating a plan for responding to security incidents. This includes things like identifying the key stakeholders, establishing communication protocols, and creating procedures for containing and mitigating the incident. By having a well-defined incident response plan in place, it becomes possible to quickly and effectively respond to security incidents and minimize their impact on the environment.

Trellix Endpoint Detection and Response: This solution provides real-time visibility into endpoint activity, allowing organizations to quickly detect and respond to potential security incidents. It collects and analyzes endpoint telemetry data, including system and application logs, to identify anomalous behavior and alert security teams to potential threats. By normalizing endpoint behavior and establishing a baseline of activity, organizations can quickly identify deviations that could indicate a potential security incident.

Trellix Emerging Solutions and Technologies

As your team and organization moves into new age Trellix Offerings, these solutions and technologies will further enhance abilities to normalize and view an environment and the potential threats posed.

Trellix XDR is an advanced solution that goes beyond traditional endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities, providing organizations with enhanced visibility and protection across their entire IT environment. By integrating data from multiple security layers, such as endpoints, networks, applications, and cloud services, Trellix XDR enables security teams to quickly detect, investigate, and respond to threats in real-time.

Trellix Unified Endpoint (UEM) is a comprehensive solution designed to simplify and streamline the management of diverse endpoints, including desktops, laptops, mobile devices, and IoT devices, across your organization. By consolidating endpoint management tasks into a single platform, Trellix UEM enables IT and security teams to more effectively manage and secure these devices while reducing complexity and operational overhead.

Trellix Professional Services

Trellix Professional Services provide specialized consulting services to help organizations achieve their security goals and normalize their environments. We offer a wide range of services, including the examples discussed in this article.

Please reach out to your Trellix Contacts if you would like to have a discussion with Professional Services and how we can help.

Conclusion

Normalizing an environment is a critical component of a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. By establishing a baseline of normal activity, it becomes possible to quickly identify anomalous events, which could be indicative of security threats. By following the guidance outlined above, organizations can significantly reduce their risk of cyberattacks and better protect their systems and data.

In addition to these solutions, Trellix Security Solutions provide a range of other tools, including network security, email security, and cloud security, to help organizations normalize their environment and protect against cybersecurity threats.