In a groundbreaking move for the cybersecurity industry, Optiv has launched the Optiv Market System (OMS), a pioneering single reference architecture designed to tackle the increasing complexity and fluidity of cyber threats. This innovative framework aims to enable businesses to manage cyber risks, optimize security investments, and sustain operational resilience with greater efficacy. By integrating extensive services, technology, and solutions across all cybersecurity domains, OMS positions Optiv as a unique leader in the industry, setting a new standard for comprehensive cybersecurity management.
Tackling Complexity in Modern Cybersecurity
Modern cybersecurity is increasingly complicated by AI-driven threats and multifaceted hybrid and multi-cloud ecosystems, introducing unprecedented challenges for businesses. OMS addresses these challenges head-on by aligning with established industry frameworks such as the Secure Controls Framework, NIST Cyber Framework, MITRE, and CIS. This ensures that businesses have a comprehensive and adaptable approach to defend against evolving threats, regardless of their current security level. By providing a detailed, holistic approach, OMS allows organizations to anticipate and adapt to new compliance regulations and emerging threats dynamically.
Kevin Lynch, CEO of Optiv, passionately emphasizes that OMS transcends being merely a tool and represents a paradigm shift in managing cyber risks. According to Lynch, the framework arms businesses with the capability to optimize their cybersecurity investments effectively, compare these investments with industry benchmarks, and align security strategies with overarching business goals. This strategic alignment directly impacts a company’s bottom line and operational resilience, making cybersecurity an integral part of business strategy rather than a separate technical challenge. By embedding cybersecurity into the core of business practices, OMS ensures that security measures are both business-centric and technically sound.
Navigating an AI-Driven Threat Landscape
The modern cybersecurity landscape is increasingly characterized by sophisticated AI-driven threats that continue to evolve in both complexity and frequency. OMS addresses these sophisticated challenges through its alignment with industry standards such as NIST Cyber Framework, MITRE, and CIS, offering businesses a fortified defense mechanism. This alignment ensures that organizations can leverage a comprehensive and adaptive approach, capable of evolving alongside the threats they face. Importantly, OMS is designed to be robust across various stages of a company’s security journey, enabling continuous improvement and resilience.
Optiv’s approach with OMS defies the traditional reactive stance on cybersecurity, embracing a proactive strategy that emphasizes anticipation and adaptation. By integrating AI readiness into its framework, OMS offers a unique advantage, allowing businesses to stay ahead of those leveraging AI for nefarious purposes. This dynamic responsiveness ensures real-time adaptation to new threats, aligning cybersecurity measures with business objectives. Therefore, organizations are not just reacting to threats but are strategically positioned to preempt and mitigate risks before they can impact operations.
Providing a Holistic Cybersecurity Solution
Kevin Lynch asserts that OMS is not merely a tool but a profound paradigm shift in cybersecurity management. The cutting-edge framework enables businesses to optimize cybersecurity investments, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently and effectively. This optimization extends beyond mere spending, encouraging businesses to strategically align their security measures with broader business objectives. Lynch’s vision underscores the critical role of cybersecurity in sustaining operational resilience and securing long-term business success, integrating cybersecurity into core business practices.
More than just a technological advancement, OMS facilitates an organizational transformation by bridging the gap between cybersecurity strategies and business goals. By fostering a unified understanding of cybersecurity risks and measures across all organizational levels, OMS ensures that executive leadership, technical teams, and stakeholders are all on the same page. This alignment supports informed decision-making, enhancing communication and fostering a culture of shared responsibility and continuous improvement. As a result, businesses can navigate the complexities of modern cybersecurity more effectively, driving both enhanced security and business performance.
The Need for Integrated and Comprehensive Frameworks
One overriding trend in modern cybersecurity is the growing importance of integrated and comprehensive frameworks like OMS. This trend highlights the need for solutions that offer clear insights into the return on security investments. OMS facilitates informed, risk-based discussions about an organization’s security posture, allowing decision-makers to understand precisely how their cybersecurity strategies impact overall business performance. This alignment bridges the gap between cybersecurity and business strategy, fostering improved communication and comprehensive decision-making processes.
Insights into Optimizing Cybersecurity Investments
OMS enables organizations to achieve improved clarity and optimization regarding their cybersecurity investments. By providing detailed insights into the return on these investments, OMS supports businesses in conducting thorough risk-based assessments. This facilitates an ongoing dialogue centered on organizational security posture, allowing decision-makers to evaluate how security measures align with broader business objectives. The integration of these insights ensures that cybersecurity investments are not just about technological upgrades but also about strategic business value.
Through detailed analysis and benchmarking, OMS allows businesses to compare their cybersecurity investments with industry peers. This comparative insight empowers organizations to make informed decisions, balancing their cybersecurity initiatives with those seen as industry standards or best practices. This alignment not only improves efficiency and effectiveness but also establishes a structured framework for ongoing evaluation and enhancement—ensuring that cybersecurity measures evolve in tandem with both the external threat landscape and internal business objectives.
Enhancing Cybersecurity Program Efficiency
OMS is particularly noted for its ability to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of cybersecurity programs. This capability is crucial, given the rising incidence of cyber breaches and the corresponding increased scrutiny on cybersecurity measures. A recent Optiv report highlighted a nearly 60% increase in security budgets, signaling the urgent need for frameworks that can deliver substantive, scalable security improvements. OMS addresses this need by minimizing operational overhead and bolstering overall security postures, providing organizations with a clear and actionable pathway to enhanced security.
By streamlining cybersecurity operations, OMS reduces the complexity associated with managing multiple, disjointed security solutions. This consolidation enhances visibility across the cybersecurity landscape, enabling organizations to identify and address vulnerabilities swiftly and decisively. As a unified framework, OMS integrates various security functions, reducing redundancy and improving the operational efficiency of cybersecurity programs. This holistic approach ensures that security measures are both effective and sustainable, supporting long-term resilience against evolving cyber threats.
Functional Aspects of the OMS Framework
The OMS architecture employs a proprietary methodology that organizes cybersecurity into distinct Security Principles, Domains, Controls, and Capabilities. This structured approach enables Optiv to meet clients at any stage of their security journey, providing tailored services through three delivery modes: Advise, Deploy, and Operate. Each mode is designed to offer targeted support, whether organizations are seeking strategic guidance, implementing new security measures, or managing ongoing operations. This versatility enhances asset management, improves visibility and control, and allows for a dynamic response to new compliance regulations and evolving threats.
Methodology and Implementation
The detailed methodology behind OMS is one of its standout features, organizing cybersecurity into Security Principles, Domains, Controls, and Capabilities. This structured approach ensures that every aspect of an organization’s security landscape is addressed comprehensively and systematically. Through its three delivery modes—Advise, Deploy, and Operate—OMS can provide bespoke services tailored to the specific needs and maturity levels of different organizations. This flexibility enables businesses to receive the precise level of support required, from strategic advice to practical implementation and ongoing operations management.
Advise, the first mode, offers strategic guidance and insights, helping organizations assess their current cybersecurity posture and plan future initiatives. Deploy focuses on the practical aspects of implementing security measures, ensuring that organizations can seamlessly integrate new technologies and solutions into their existing frameworks. Operate provides ongoing support and management, allowing businesses to maintain and enhance their security measures over time. This tripartite delivery model ensures that OMS can meet clients’ needs effectively, regardless of where they are in their security journey.
Improving Organizational Cybersecurity
By introducing a common language for cybersecurity, OMS promotes a unified understanding across organizations. This standardization is significant, enhancing communication and decision-making internally and ensuring that all stakeholders—from technical teams to executive leadership—are aligned in their understanding and approach to cybersecurity. This common framework facilitates more coherent and informed discussions around cybersecurity strategies, goals, and challenges. As a result, organizations can foster a culture of shared responsibility, driving collective action and continuous improvement in their security posture.
The emphasis on targeted improvements and resource allocation embodied by OMS is another crucial aspect of its design. By monitoring domain maturity down to individual controls, OMS provides detailed insights that guide organizations in making targeted enhancements. This granular approach ensures that resources are allocated where they are most needed and most effective, optimizing overall cybersecurity effectiveness. Through this detailed analysis, OMS helps organizations identify specific areas for improvement and implement targeted measures to bolster their cybersecurity defenses, ensuring that resources are used efficiently and strategically.
Commitment to Client Success
Optiv’s OMS framework underscores a strong commitment to client success, offering a comprehensive Security Program Landscape (SPL) assessment. This assessment evaluates an organization’s current security environment against the OMS framework, providing a detailed report with actionable insights and recommendations. The SPL process simplifies cybersecurity efforts, reduces complexity, and manages cyber risks more effectively across the organization. This structured evaluation ensures that businesses receive tailored support and guidance, empowering them to enhance their cybersecurity measures and navigate the complex threat landscape with greater assurance and efficacy.
Security Program Landscape (SPL) Assessment
The Security Program Landscape (SPL) assessment is a cornerstone of Optiv’s commitment to client success through the OMS framework. This comprehensive evaluation benchmarks an organization’s existing security environment against the OMS framework, identifying strengths and pinpointing areas for improvement. Upon completion of the assessment, organizations receive a detailed report outlining specific recommendations and actionable insights. This process not only simplifies cybersecurity efforts but also provides a clear pathway for reducing complexity and managing cyber risks more effectively.
Optiv’s SPL assessment ensures that organizations can align their security measures with industry standards and best practices, providing a structured approach to continuous improvement. The detailed recommendations and insights offered through the SPL process empower businesses to make informed decisions about their cybersecurity initiatives, optimizing their strategies and resource allocation. By leveraging the SPL assessment, organizations can enhance their security posture, drive more effective risk management, and support long-term resilience against an ever-evolving threat landscape.
Industry Endorsements and Expert Insights
Optiv has launched an innovative platform called the Optiv Market System (OMS), setting a new benchmark in the cybersecurity industry. This groundbreaking reference architecture is specifically designed to address the growing complexity and rapid evolution of cyber threats. Businesses can leverage OMS to efficiently manage cyber risks, maximize their security investments, and maintain operational resilience. What sets OMS apart is its integration of a wide array of services, technologies, and solutions that span all areas of cybersecurity. This holistic approach not only enhances risk management but also ensures that organizations are better equipped to handle emerging threats. By offering a comprehensive framework, OMS positions Optiv as a unique leader, capable of delivering superior cybersecurity management. The launch of OMS marks a significant advancement in how enterprises can protect themselves against cyber threats, making Optiv an indispensable partner for businesses striving to fortify their defenses in an increasingly digital world.
