Cybersecurity is a landscape defined by constant evolution, where the protectors of data and technology are locked in an ongoing struggle against a hidden and constantly adapting enemy.

The partnership between Ivanti Software Inc. and Securin Inc. holds great promise in addressing the cybersecurity challenges of today’s digital landscape, according to Srinivas Mukkamala (pictured, right), chief product officer of Ivanti Software. By providing organizations with better visibility into cyber threats and vulnerabilities, as well as data-driven insights and domain expertise, this collaboration aims to empower organizations to proactively manage cyber risks and protect critical assets.

“Do I have very clear visibility into my risk? That is the number one — it’s risk management,” Mukkamala said. “We know every single leader, irrespective of the size, focuses on that because you manage risk. Risk is seen as an advantage, because companies who take risk are the ones that truly strive in any competing economy.”

Mukkamala and Kiran Chinnagangannagari (left), co-founder and chief product and technology officer of Securin, spoke with theCUBE analyst Rebecca Knight during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the role that Ivanti and Securin are playing in fortifying the digital realm against ever-advancing threats. (* Disclosure below.)

The growing need for cybersecurity in today’s digital world

In today’s digital world, security and technology teams face significant challenges. Shortages in security talent and constrained IT budgets have placed constraints on organizations’ abilities to defend against cyber threats effectively, according to Mukkamala.

“If you take a look at what’s happening, we’re catching up to what we call symmetric warfare,” he said. “What happened in the last three years especially is we are seeing a hidden enemy. We don’t know who it is. We don’t know where they’re going to come from, how they’re going to strike us. It is starting to show a massive impact.”

This alarming trend underscores the need for robust cybersecurity measures. Government agencies worldwide, including the U.S. Congress and the White House, have recognized the severity of the issue and are actively passing legislation and executive orders to address it, Mukkamala pointed out.

The partnership between Ivanti and Securin is a response to these challenges. It aims to provide organizations with the tools and insights needed to enhance a cybersecurity posture. Cybersecurity should not be a privilege accessible only to large organizations, but a necessity for all, regardless of size, according to both Mukkamala and Chinnagangannagari.

“You have to fight AI with AI; you have to fight machine speed with operational speed,” Mukkamala said. “Unfortunately, we’re still way behind in addressing risk posed by machine learning and artificial intelligence. Legislation forces everyone to invest, everyone to adopt, everyone to ensure not only [that] they have resilience, but they’re protecting critical data they’re collecting from the consumers and the citizens.”

Addressing vulnerability management in a continuous cyber threat environment

Traditionally, organizations conducted periodic assessments to identify vulnerabilities. However, in the face of rapidly evolving cyber threats, this approach has become obsolete. Today, continuous monitoring is essential to keep up with the ever-changing threat landscape.

“We were able to actually bring all this data together and help our customers understand exposures,” Mukkamala said. “Helping us get that very clear visibility and use their intelligence, their data, their domain expertise to prioritize what those exposures are to help our customers truly be proactive not reactive.”

Continuous monitoring entails scanning for vulnerabilities on an ongoing basis, collecting vast amounts of data. This data-driven approach presents its own set of challenges, including the need to sift through large datasets to identify critical vulnerabilities. Ivanti and Securin recognize the importance of data analysis in this process and the need for domain expertise to make sense of the collected information, according to Chinnagangannagari.

“Generative AI is something that has taken the world by surprise in the last year or so,” he said. “The use of AI has tremendously grown, but a lot of folks are using AI without realizing how [these] AI-generated models … are being trained, what data is being used, how your data is going to be used. We want to look at how the organizations can leverage the AI in a more meaningful and safe fashion.”

Moreover, the partnership emphasizes the importance of context in vulnerability management. Not all vulnerabilities are equal and prioritization is key. Ivanti and Securin’s joint efforts aim to provide organizations with the threat context needed to prioritize vulnerabilities effectively. By understanding which vulnerabilities are actively exploited by threat actors, organizations can focus efforts where they matter most, Chinnagangannagari added.

“We are looking at a very different lens and seeing what are these threat actors doing,” he said. “How do we bring that in to the overall product that we are building? This is where we come into the security and vulnerability product, [which] is [an] outcome of extensive research through the collaboration of DARPA.”

Here’s theCUBE’s complete video interview with Mukkamala and Chinnagangannagari:

(* Disclosure: Ivanti Software Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Ivanti nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE