Continuous security monitoring is the idea that all transactions are monitored with real-time visibility to detect malicious activities and anomalies.  Per Datainsder, “Continuous security monitoring solutions provide real-time visibility into an organization’s security posture, constantly monitoring for cyber threats, security misconfigurations, or other vulnerabilities.”  Continuous security monitoring functions by providing real-time analytics and insights on people, data, and devices interacting with the monitored systems.  Once a threat is detected, prevention and mitigation proceedings would execute immediately.

According to (Tunggal, 2021), continuous security monitoring is essential because it enables organizations to assess their overall security architecture continually. It also allows them to determine whether they are complying with their internal information security policies on a day-to-day basis and when changes occur. Proper continuous monitoring gives companies each attacker by detecting zero-day exploits vs. reactive action when damage is already done.

According to (NIST, 2011), the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST SP 800-137, information security continuous monitoring (ISCM) works by:

 

·         Maintaining situational awareness of all systems across the organization and its vendor ecosystem

·         Maintaining an understanding of threats and threat activities

·         Assessing all security controls

·         Collecting, correlating, and analyzing security-related information

·         Providing actionable communication of security status across all tiers of the organization; and

·         Active management of risk by organizational officials.

·         Integration of information security and risk management frameworks.

References

NIST. (2011). Information Security Continuous Monitoring (ISCM) for Federal Information Systems and Organizations. Retrieved from https://nvlpubs.nist.gov: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/SP/nistspecialpublication800-137.pdf

Tunggal, A. T. (2021). What is Continuous Security Monitoring? Retrieved from https://www.upguard.com: https://www.upguard.com/blog/continuous-security-monitoring