Continuous security monitoring has become especially important for risk management as cyber threats have increased. Attacks are up by 30% in 2024, the typical organization gets hit with 1,636 attacks per week, and the cost of a data breach averages at least six figures.
Those numbers will only get worse over time, making it imperative to stay on-guard 24/7/365 by whatever means necessary.
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This article will dive deep into the concept of continuous monitoring in cybersecurity, explaining why a security posture and compliance effort are significantly stronger when they’re continuously monitored, covering several continuous monitoring examples, and detailing how even a small business can create and execute a continuous monitoring strategy.
What Is Continuous Monitoring?
Continuous monitoring is the practice of searching for cybersecurity exposures, gaps, and threats on a continual basis with the assistance of automation or a service provider.
By finding these weaknesses early enough and consistently enough, security teams can resolve them before attackers exploit them to cause data breaches.
Vulnerabilities being monitored in real-time.
Why Continuous Security Monitoring Is A Requirement
Today’s technology is vast, complicated, and constantly changing as new tools get added, subtracted, or updated. There may be cybersecurity issues in this technology that allow hackers to bypass security controls, access sensitive information, and launch major attacks.
Periodic Vs Continuous Monitoring
It’s impossible to predict exactly where and when these issues will emerge, so continuous monitoring hunts for them all the time.
The alternative is periodic monitoring, which happens on a set schedule, but that means threats may get ignored for weeks or months. Continuous monitoring supplies security and IT teams with real-time security information and updates to detect and address issues the minute they emerge.
NIST security controls for continuous monitoring advise companies to define, establish, and implement a strategy that they analyze, review, and improve regularly. This strategy must be able to ingest data from all applicable sources, detect vulnerabilities and issues in many forms, and conduct the requisite analysis and alerting.
Continuous monitoring plays a vital role in any cybersecurity strategy. It improves the security posture by exposing weaknesses; it reduces incidents by improving security controls; it takes the pressure off security teams and tools by stopping threats earlier; and it helps comply with regulatory and contractual requirements.
The challenge, especially for small businesses, is having the resources—time, talent, tools—to monitor for threats effectively and also on a continual basis. Many organizations rely on service providers to bear this burden and make continuous monitoring accessible. and cost-effective.
Components Of A Continuous Monitoring System
A continuous monitoring system has four key components:
- First, a monitoring application that can receive data from sources like system logs, metrics, events, and traffic.
- Second, an analytics tool that can search the data for trends, anomalies, or other insights.
- Third, a dashboard to display the KPIs and alerts that update in real time.
- Fourth is a system to notify the right person when something requires attention.
Stopping the most common cyber threats means finding and fixing exposures across vast amounts of technology, making automation a key component of a continuous monitoring system. Automation can collect and analyze data with great speed, scale, and precision so that security leaders have real-time visibility into the security posture rather than an outdated, incomplete, or incorrect picture.
Security monitoring KPI dashboard.
Types Of Continuous Monitoring
What asset is being continuously monitored affects how the process works:
- Endpoint Monitoring – This records security information from laptops, services, phones, or other endpoints to detect malicious threats and unseen issues. Endpoints are a major cyber attack vector, so they’re a prime candidate for continuous monitoring in the form of endpoint detection and response.
- Network Monitoring – This monitors network traffic for evidence of unauthorized access, dangerous malware, performance issues, and more. Practicing network security management keeps many data breaches from starting or growing.
- Application Monitoring – This monitors application performance metrics in real-time for signs that the app may be infected, exposed, or providing a poor user experience. Companies depend on apps for key capabilities, so it’s prudent to protect them from an incident or intrusion.
- Cloud Monitoring – This monitors cloud and container activity to see patterns, deviations, and vulnerabilities. As more attacks target the cloud, continuously monitoring what happens there becomes a cybersecurity priority.
The Benefits Of Continuous Monitoring In Cybersecurity
Continuous security monitoring benefits cybersecurity and risk management in multiple ways:
1. Early Threat Detection and Response
Searching for red flags on a continual basis with the help of automated monitoring tools helps security teams detect the earliest signs of attacks and respond fast enough to prevent or minimize any consequences. Data breaches that last longer cost more, so increasing visibility to accelerate detection and response pays dividends.
2. Improve Risk Management
Companies are less exposed to cyber risk when they systematically search for vulnerabilities on a proactive basis. Cyber incidents were cited as the leading risk in 2024, but continuous monitoring has an unmatched ability to manage it, making it a key component of risk management.
Learn More: How To Develop A Security Risk Management Plan
3. Enhanced Compliance
An increasing number of regulations at the state, national, and international levels require companies to put strong security controls in place, including continuous monitoring. The average cost of non-compliance has been measured at $14.82 million, but continuous monitoring replaces the risk or non-compliance with the rewards of security monitoring.
4. Better Visibility Into Security Posture
Continuous monitoring gives security teams faster, broader, and deeper visibility into their security posture so they can detect vulnerabilities and identify threats more effectively than before. Research shows that companies with a stronger security posture fall victim to fewer data breaches and pay less when they do.
5. Efficient Resource Utilization
Monitoring tools can track security controls, but they can do the same for network, endpoint, cloud, and application performance. IT teams can make continuous improvements to all these domains, including more efficient resource utilization, once they have continuous insights.
Implementing A Continuous Monitoring Strategy
More than just an automated tool or technique, continuous security monitoring takes a comprehensive strategy based on these principles:
- Defining Objectives And Scope – Decide what will be continuously monitored, why, and to what extent. Be realistic about the scope and internal resources to avoid getting overextended.
Selecting Appropriate Tools And Technologies – Identify what additional security monitoring tools are necessary to achieve the intended scope. Try to limit the number of additions to keep costs in check. - Establishing Policies And Procedures – Determine the details of monitoring, analyzing, and alerting. More extensive policies allow more of continuous monitoring to be automated.
- Setting Up Metrics And Thresholds – Establish the KPIs for security monitoring and thresholds for taking action. Eliminate ambiguity to prevent issues from falling through the cracks.
- Training Personnel – Provide any training in monitoring and security that staff many need to ensure that once continuous monitoring starts, it’s never interrupted. Be prepared to provide ongoing training as this discipline evolves.
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Continuous Monitoring Tools And Technologies
A continuous monitoring strategy will utilize multiple tools—but ideally as few as possible, with as many pieces as possible integrated together and managed round-the-clock by security experts:
- XDR – An extended detection and response tool like Defiance XDR™ ingests, integrates, and analyzes data from across the attack surface to synchronize all aspects of security monitoring, threat detection, and incident response. Managed XDR puts the burden of managing the tool and monitoring the attack surface onto a skilled service provider.
- Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) – an SIEM tool collects data on security activities from disparate sources, then analyzes it for issues, calculates metrics, and alerts staff. Continuous monitoring depends on the kinds of ongoing information aggregation that SIEM provides.
- Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS) – These network monitoring tools analyze traffic logs for intrusion indicators, then respond to prevent the attack from progressing. Continuously monitoring network activity becomes possible with tools like these.
- Log Management Tools – A place to ingest, organize, and analyze log data from multiple sources is what these tools offer. Security monitoring always needs to look at log data—but that data alone may not be enough.
- Vulnerability Scanners – These scanners search the attack surface for known vulnerabilities based on updating threat intelligence, then provide alerts, analysis, and risk rankings, hopefully in real time. They are one way for a continuous monitoring system to locate security weaknesses and unauthorized activity.
- Threat Intelligence Platforms – A steady stream of customized threat intelligence is delivered by these platforms, helping a continuous monitoring system determine which exposures and issues to address first based on the greatest risk to the organization.
Challenges In Implementing Continuous Monitoring
The previous list illustrates that there are many options for continuous monitoring, but Defiance XDR™ leads the pack by expanding the radius of a continuous monitoring system while mitigating the primary challenges.
Keep those challenges in mind when planning security monitoring and risk management:
- Data Overload And Alert Fatigue – Monitoring large IT ecosystems all the time generates huge amounts of data and many irrelevant alerts. The solution is a tool that is better able to integrate data, consolidate insights, and validate alerts.
- Resource Requirements – Continuous monitoring tools can be expensive, as can staff with the right skills. One solution is relying on a service provider who can offer access to security monitoring tools and staff at a lower cost than in-house.
- Integration Complexities – A continuous monitoring application will need to integrate with multiple other systems and data sources, creating complexity and friction. Look for the most solution-agnostic tools possible to prevent integration issues.
- Keeping Up With Evolving Threats – Monitoring for new and emerging threats in real time is difficult because they’re unfamiliar. Avoid tools that rely on signatures to identify threats in favor or tools that use correlation and analysis to detect network security issues.
Best Practices For Effective Continuous Monitoring
More important to a continuous monitoring program than any tool or technique is following these best practices:
- Prioritizing Assets and Data – Rather than trying to protect everything with security monitoring, start with the assets and data that are most important or most risky. Bring business and tech people together to make those determinations.
- Automating Where Possible – Manual processes are the enemy of continuous monitoring, so automate where possible. However, don’t entirely eliminate human judgement from the equation.
- Regularly Reviewing And Updating The Monitoring Strategy – Continuous monitoring takes constant course correction. Plan to regularly review metrics and update plans so it doesn’t fall by the wayside.
- Integrating With Incident Response Plans – Being able to detect vulnerabilities, threats, and exposures does little good without the ability to address them quickly and effectively. Consider continuous monitoring and incident response to be two sides of the same coin—you need to excel at both.
- Leveraging Threat Intelligence – Continuous monitoring in conjunction with threat intelligence tells security teams where to focus their attention. Choose cybersecurity and risk management tools that build threat intelligence into the functionality.
The Future of Continuous Monitoring In Cybersecurity
Continuous security monitoring is evolving at the same pace as cybersecurity itself. Emerging trends include:
- AI And Machine Learning Integration – AI and machine learning allow a continuous monitoring system to move faster with greater visibility—but they also help attackers.
- Increased Focus On Cloud And IoT Monitoring – New domains are being continuously monitored as they become a bigger part of IT—and suffer through more data breaches.
- Adoption Of Extended Detection And Response – XDR solutions are making continuous monitoring more effective and accessible—because the alternatives are lacking.
How PurpleSec Helps Small Businesses With Continuous Security Monitoring
PurpleSec empowers SMBs with enterprise-level cybersecurity, making robust protection accessible and affordable. Our flagship service, Defiance XDR™, offers comprehensive, fully-managed security that evolves with emerging threats, now available to small businesses through our subscription model.
We tailor our solutions to your specific needs and growth stage, covering everything from compliance to active threat management. By partnering with PurpleSec, small businesses can implement sophisticated cybersecurity measures, ensuring they have the protection needed to thrive in the current threat landscape while focusing on business growth.
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Make cybersecurity simple. Defiance XDR™ is a holistic, turnkey, and fully managed security solution delivered in one affordable subscription plan.
Conclusion
Continuous security monitoring is a compliance requirement for some companies and a security benefit for all companies because it makes makes them aware of threats in real-time so they can leap to action without delay.
Cybersecurity can’t start and stop, which means security monitoring can’t either. So ask an essential question: can your company continuously monitor everything important, all the time?
Contact PurpleSec to make the answer a confident yes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Does Continuous Monitoring Help With Compliance?
Some frameworks explicitly require it, and continuous monitoring spots the earliest signs of non-compliance.
What Are Some Examples Of Continuous Monitoring In Cybersecurity?
Endpoint detection and response (EDR) monitors devices continuously to detect signs of weakness or compromise.
Can Continuous Monitoring Prevent All Cyber Attacks?
Nothing can. Security monitoring can reduce the risk by reducing the attack surface.
How Often Should A Continuous Monitoring Strategy Be Reviewed?
At least once each year, or sooner if required.
Article by
Joshua is a diversely-skilled cybersecurity professional with over a decade of cybersecurity experience previously working for the Department of Defense.
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