Cybersecurity Insights with Contrast CISO David Lindner | 12/06/24

Insight #1: The NIST CVE backlog is hogtying CISOs

The NIST CVE backlog is a digital plague crippling a critical control layer in an organization's cybersecurity architecture. CISOs and security leaders are left scrambling, their defenses undermined by the very agency tasked with providing threat intelligence. Firewalls, intrusion detection systems, vulnerability scanners — in short,  billions of dollars in security investment — have been rendered even more reactive and inaccurate. The situation has given malicious actors the upper hand. This backlog throws sand in the gears of these tools, leaving gaping holes in defenses. It's a systemic failure leaving organizations vulnerable.

Insight #2: The SOC is starving

Because of the CVE backlog, security operations center (SOC) teams are starved of critical vulnerability data, their threat detection systems rendered unreliable and ineffective. Every alert becomes suspect, every analysis clouded by doubt and inaccuracies. Without complete and verified CVE information, accurate correlation becomes near-impossible. Analysts waste precious time chasing ghosts, while real threats slip through the cracks. The backlog cripples their ability to proactively hunt for vulnerabilities when thousands of CVEs are still waiting for validation, leaving organizations exposed and the SOC struggling to keep pace. 

Insight #3. Incident responders are fumbling around in the dark

Incident responders face a nightmare scenario: grappling with an attack while blind to the full extent of exploited vulnerabilities. This lack of critical information hinders effective triage and containment, allowing the damage to spread unchecked. Mean Time To Respond (MTTR) explodes as teams struggle to identify the root cause and apply the right mitigation strategies. Mean Time To Recover (MTTR) becomes a distant dream, as organizations grapple with crippled systems and the lingering threat of repeat attacks exploiting the same unknown vulnerabilities. The CVE backlog turns every incident into a cascading disaster, magnifying the damage and leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.