How to improve IT security with Software Asset Management

The Security Situation

When it comes to unexpected costs in the world of software, most Software Asset Managers are focusing on one single risk: non-compliance due to unlicensed/misused software. Globally, incorrectly licensed software costs organizations billions of dollars every year, burdening their IT budgets with unanticipated costs. 

However, this is not the biggest software risk from a cost perspective. Security breaches also pose a huge financial risk to companies. In this article, we’re going to explore the role of Software Asset Management  technology in mitigating IT security risk and controlling the costs associated.

Cybersecurity Risk Climbs in 2024 and Beyond  

Cybersecurity attacks continue to increase in both frequency and cost. The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) noted the concerning uptick in cybersecurity incidents in its 2024 Threat Landscape report: 

“Throughout the latter part of 2023 and the initial half of 2024, there was a notable escalation in cybersecurity attacks, setting new benchmarks in both the variety and number of incidents, as well as their consequences.” 

• Global cyber-attacks increased by 30% in Q2 2024. 
• Threats against availability (Denial of Service), ransomware, and threats against data were the top 3 cybersecurity threats across 2023 and 2024 according to ENISA’s 2024 Threat Landscape report. 
• 90% of all cyber incidents originate from human error or behavior like weak passwords or phishing attacks.
• The global average cost of a data breach in 2024 is $4.88M, a 10% increase from 2023 and the highest yearly total recorded.

These attacks have devastating consequences and underscore our reliance on properly functioning IT infrastructure. While not malicious, the global CrowdStrike outage demonstrated the scale of what can go wrong. In early 2024, Tietoevry was the target of a ransomware attack, disrupting services in companies, universities, government agencies, and municipalities across Sweden.  

In the EU, geopolitical factors like the recent election and regional conflicts are cited as causes for the increase in cybersecurity breaches. Other global contributors are our ever-increasing reliance on digital platforms, where more and more sensitive data is stored, and the rise of artificial intelligence, which malicious actors now use to enhance the efficacy of their cyberattacks.

The Connection Between SAM and Cybersecurity 

Now, many might think that Software Asset Management and IT security are unrelated because SAM deals with software, and IT security deals network security, firewalls, anti-virus and data security polices. All of this is true, but there is a connecting factor which creates huge security risk: unauthorized applications and End-Of-Life (EOL) software.

There are 11.5 malware attacks taking place every minute around the world, and with the help of AI they’re becoming more sophisticated every day. For high-risk organizations, such as banks and other public sector entities, that timeframe is changed from minutes to seconds. The frequency and severity of cyber attacks increase annually as the world becomes more digitally dependent. 

A big factor of this increase is software installed directly by end users. Up to 30% of employees have admitted to installing personal or non-approved software on their work computers. While this software might not be malware per se, it may contain security vulnerabilities in its code that could work as a Trojan horse for more unwanted software.

The second part of software as a potential security breach is software that has reached its End-Of-Life (EOL). Conventionally, all software reaches a point where it is no longer supported, updated or patched. When this happens, it can be a highway for hackers straight into the deepest part of your protected network. An anti-virus or a firewall may never alert you to the fact that the software you have installed (published by highly respected software vendors) is no longer subject to security updates/patches. Just like unauthorized software in the example above, EOL software could act like a Trojan horse in your internal network, presenting a potential threat to your whole IT environment.

How Legacy SAM Solutions Address IT Security

So, what is the SAM tool’s role in all of this? Even though unauthorized and unsupported software can be hazardous for the internal IT network, traditional legacy SAM software vendors have pushed most of the responsibility to the organization’s anti-virus and firewall solutions. But anti-virus programs will only detect malware, such as viruses or infected software in the environment. It will not recognize potential security threats in sanctioned and authorized software, exposing them to significant risk.

Xensam’s Security Center

Xensam’s Security Center focuses on what traditional security solutions will most likely overlook. Our platform contains a “Manage” section consisting of multiple sub-menus, which are presented both in a dashboard and a list view.

Addressing Malware: The first section is the malware list. This view shows all the malware that Xensam has detected but the current anti-virus solution may have missed, or malware identified on machines where anti-virus is inactive/uninstalled for whatever reason. The Xearch Agent automatically checks all inventoried data against our special malware database in our global Xource Database. The malware database alone contains millions of unique malware definitions, which makes it by far the biggest malware database in the SAM arena.

Addressing EOL Software: The second section is the “Reached EOL” list. Here you can see all software in your organization that has reached its end of life and therefore, will no longer receive security updates and patches. You can also see when it reached its EOL and therefore make a quick risk assumption based on its last update/patch.

GDPR Risk: The third section presents all software that might be a GDPR risk, which means that it can store and/or handle user data. Computers with GDPR risk are of course extra sensitive in the case of a security breach.

Blocklisted and License-Free Applications: The fourth and fifth sections contains Blacklisted and License Free applications. These applications, just like EOL software, can present security vulnerabilities that authorized/purchased software often negates with security patches.

The two last sections are more focused on the hardware side of security. Firstly, there is a list of a computers that are currently missing anti-virus and could be more vulnerable to attacks. The final section contains a list of all computers that are missing BitLocker encryption on their disks, which might be something that contravenes data polices at your organization.

All of these instantly useful features are available in Xensam’s new Security Center, which is a standard inclusion in the Xupervisor platform. Of course, there is a caveat that whilst this product is powerful, it should not be viewed as a replacement of current security solutions – rather a complementary facility to identify potential security breaches that a current security setup may fail to uncover.

Software license compliance is a vital part of Software Asset Management, but to really reap the benefits of a good SAM program, security – through management of software with potential security vulnerabilities, also needs to be included in ongoing Software Asset Management operations.