What is Cyber Security Mesh Architecture (CSMA)?
What is CSMA?
The adaptation of identity-first and distributed frameworks reveals a great shift in cybersecurity strategy. In 2021, Gartner’s VP analyst, Patrick Hevesi saw to it to suggest Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture (CSMA) to accompany and enhance the traditional Defense-in-Depth approach. The CSMA framework fortifies the essential relationships among security teams and products promoting interoperability, collaboration, and context awareness among security teams and products.
Gartner stresses the importance of CSMA “by 2024, organizations adopting a cybersecurity mesh architecture will reduce the financial impact of security incidents by an average of 90%.” (Gartner also suggests that incorporating data scientists into security teams will aid in using new technologies to their full potential.)
Interoperability, collaboration, and context awareness play a big role in CSMA. CSMA includes standardized security, decentralized identity posture, collaboration, reduced security gaps, easier deployment and management, and the ability to embrace new technologies.
Four Interconnected Layers Integrated in CSMA
CSMA includes four integrated layers: Security Intelligence, Identity Fabric, Unified Policy and Integrated Operational Dashboard. Below is a bit more information about each layer.
1. Security Intelligence
Using AI and data science, Security Intelligence monitors entity behavior for suspicious activity. It can track data like user behavior and out of the ordinary actions. Security Intelligence uses complex data from all environments and layers. This synergizes and optimizes the intelligence that can be gathered and it is doing so efficiently. A resulting comprehensive understanding of performance reaches beyond the scope of human abilities due to AI and data science’s relentlessness and speed. This is the argument for why it is worth the time and effort to set it up and maintain it.
2. Identity Fabric
Identity in CSMA determines authorization and access to digital sensitive data. The system relies on identity to know if the user is authorized to access information. The aim with decentralized identity posture is to really know who is behind each user and if they have the access to what they are trying to access. Decentralized identity posture is an evolution past the limitations of the use of emails, phone numbers, etc. to identify a user to more reliable resources for identity authentication including those related to blockchain.
3. Unified Policy
Unity and proactivity are achieved through centralizing policies that are continuous, consistent, and context-aware. Continuous centralizing policies lead to an unbroken chain of defense. Consistent centralizing policies acts as the base for a successful and accurate process that can be repeated over time. Context-aware centralizing policies ensures that the specific and current circumstances are taken into account to prevent error and misuse of time/energy.
4. Integrated Operational Dashboard
A universal dashboard with data visualization of potential attacks and threats in real-time can help everyone stay on the same page. Data visualization of potential attacks allows organizations to plan ahead. Data visualization of current threats, on the other hand, allow organizations to react and defend effectively.
Core Elements of CSMA
CSMA is defined by several core elements that contribute to the framework’s success. These elements include:
Integration
CSMA pushes for unity throughout security products and teams, transitioning from the isolation of products and teams of past security frameworks to a framework that is built around interoperability. By promoting interoperability, CSMA creates harmony and coherence among the organization’s digital cybersecurity arena. Teams interact often and learn from each other and similarly products operate harmoniously rather than independently.
Context-Aware
CSMA is proactive. This proactivity allows for more awareness and through awareness, CSMA enhances detection and mitigation. Being aware of the context of a situation can speed up the recovery process and prevent incidents. The process of recovery in a context-unaware organization can, due to lack of awareness, have recovery efforts repeated without anyone knowing. Context-awareness can aid in informed recovery.
Identity-Centric Perimeters
Identity as the new perimeter bases access on authentication and authorization. This is how CSMA ensures that only the right people can access the organization’s sensitive data and resources. The network perimeter is replaced by an identity perimeter. This means that instead of protecting the metaphorical edges of the network that the organization has control over, clear, authentic, and accurate identities will ensure protection. This is scalable and works well for organizations that have remote workers.
Active Defense
Enabling organizations to anticipate and mitigate threats, CSMA has visualization and monitoring tools through an integrated operational dashboard. With a visual aid organizations can more easily notice suspicious activity. They can also stay up to date on attacks on known vulnerabilities.
Acting as a Group
CSMA encourages sharing data, adopting a common language, and integrating security products. Context awareness and unity promote the team to stay on the same page. Organizations can utilize CSMA to create a cyber security-aware community.
Benefits of CSMA
Organizations have many security tools that address specific and often outdated threats and vulnerabilities. In this fragmented approach, an unnecessarily complicated, disconnected security infrastructure presents itself. It both increases operational costs and decreases efficiency. This security tool sprawl can be avoided with CSMA.
Combining security solutions to form a cohesive intelligence is a foundational part of CSMA. This consolidation of redundant or overlapping security tools saves costs and improves efficiency. It also enables communication among security products, making context-awareness possible.
The benefits of CSMA are numerous, among the most significant are:
Employing sound and robust security using identity-centric security
Clarifying and consolidating operations by integrating security tools into a cohesive ecosystem
Planning for orderly growth by ensuring consistent and future-proof security strategies against threats
Vigilant defense with AI and data science, fostering a proactive security posture
Promoting organized collaboration by encouraging interoperability and collaboration among security teams and products
Onyxia’s Cybersecurity Management Platform provides a layer on top of the CSMA architecture, delivering actionable insights and recommendations. We enable CISOs to centralize security operations by streamlining security program assessment and benchmarking, providing full visibility into tech stack coverage, and ensuring framework compliance for proactive risk management.
