GFI Software: Companies misidentify their critical IT assets

The inability to identify key systems leads to underestimated security requirements and increased risks of serious operational outages  

PRAGUE, November 27, 2024 – GFI Software, a provider of security solutions for enterprise networks, stated that incorrect identification of critical IT systems within an organization leads to weak security and, in the event of a cyberattack, even serious disruption to business continuity. In addition to misunderstanding the importance of critical assets, the main causes of security issues are insufficient system inventory within the corporate network and the lack of monitoring tools that would provide an accurate overview of their operation.

Czech and Slovak customers surveyed by GFI Software about the most important IT assets in their company overwhelmingly identified file and database servers (72%), followed by mail servers at 19%, CRM systems at 6%, and network components at 3% of respondents. In reality, however, a failure of an entirely different part of the IT infrastructure would halt business operations, and that part is often neither secured nor backed up.

“Companies often believe that their key IT systems are, for example, payroll accounting, servers, or endpoint devices,” said Jozef Kačala, Vice President of Global Sales Engineering at GFI Software. “However, the critical systems without which business would actually come to a halt are more likely to be solutions such as warehouse systems, email, or partner portals. Delaying payroll by a few days is certainly inconvenient, but from a business perspective, several days of disrupted customer communication or the unavailability of ordered parts is far more serious.”

There are several reasons why critical corporate systems are vulnerable:

• Insufficient visibility into the corporate network providing an inventory of systems and their users
• Lack of monitoring tools that would provide insight into system operation
• Cloud migration and transformation, which seemingly relieves companies of responsibility for data stored elsewhere
• Transformation to new technologies such as AI and their impact on critical systems
• Internal silos and process ownership issues, especially in larger companies
• An inconsiderate user or administrator who does not respect the needs of critical applications

Organizations should therefore be able to properly determine their critical systems, identify their weak points, secure them thoroughly, and thus significantly reduce the risks of critical incidents – as required, among other things, under the NIS 2 Directive. For NIS 2 purposes, GFI Software has introduced a combination of GFI ClearView and GFI LanGuard. GFI ClearView enables comprehensive network monitoring, optimization of corporate application performance, and real-time analysis. GFI LanGuard acts as a security consultant that scans the network, inventories the devices and software in use, and installs missing patches.