Automated Remediation: Key Benefits, Best Practices & Industry Use Cases

It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, IT environments are becoming increasingly more complex than ever before. And with increased complexity comes greater potential for vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit to access sensitive data and systems. 

 

That’s why automated security remediation has become increasingly critical for organizations that need to protect their IT ecosystem as cyber-attacks rise in both costs and sophistication. 

 

These platforms provide around-the-clock detection and automatically remediate discovered vulnerabilities before they become the catalyst for a costly attack. One study found that automated remediation decreases mean time to resolution by 87.5%, compared to manual remediation. Another study found automated actions provided a 90% reduction in critical vulnerabilities. 

 

But what are the financial benefits of faster remediation? The latest IBM Cost of a Data Breach report revealed the average cost of a data breach is $4.88 million — but costs can drop to $2.22 million when security AI and automation are used for prevention.

 

What’s clear: organizations should strategically implement the right automated remediation platforms to reduce risk and minimize the cost of a data breach. 

 

In this blog, we’ll be diving deep into all things automated remediation, including benefits, best practices, and industry use cases to help you strengthen your security posture against cyber threats.

 

What Is Automated Remediation?

First, let’s start with the basics. Automated remediation automatically identifies, prioritizes, and resolves security vulnerabilities or misconfigurations within cloud environments. The leading-edge auto-remediation tools use a combination of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and predefined rules to protect your assets. 

 

The right platform can detect risks, execute remediation actions, and continuously monitor security postures. Auto remediation tools integrate with security platforms such as Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) or Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) to deliver end-to-end threat detection and response.

 

Here at Tamnoon, our approach to cloud security remediation combines AI-driven analysis with human expertise to ensure that vulnerabilities are addressed without negatively affecting production environments.

 

Key Benefits of Automated Remediation

Why are organizations gravitating towards automated security remediation platforms? This transition is because of the several benefits leading-edge platforms provide compared to manual processes.

 

So, we’ll be breaking down these benefits to highlight the practical value of upgrading to automated platforms that leverage emerging technologies.

 

Reduce Human Errors

Human involvement in cybersecurity is critical, yet it also introduces human errors, ranging from misconfiguration of cloud environments to improperly protecting privileged credentials. 

 

Automated remediation eliminates the risk of human error by following defined, repeatable processes that minimize detail-oriented manual tasks. Of course, the human element is still necessary for security — automation simply backs it up.

 

As a result, vulnerabilities and misconfigurations are quickly detected and remediated throughout the entire infrastructure, significantly enhancing overall security.

 

Continuous Monitoring and Response

Automated remediation tools are designed to operate continuously or at scheduled intervals, which helps maintain an up-to-date security posture. These platforms identify new vulnerabilities that may emerge and apply remediations in real-time, ensuring that security policies are always enforced.

 

When necessary, alerts can be generated to allow human counterparts to investigate an identified security vulnerability further. This feature is often considered assistive remediation, allowing IT staff to make informed decisions.

 

Automated vulnerability remediation goes far in resolving possible security flaws that can often emerge with updates, expansions, and integrations.

 

Cut Costs

Automation remediation tools offer ongoing cost savings by reducing the need for manual intervention while also minimizing downtime. Organizations won’t need to commit significant resources to identifying and addressing security issues, as automation creates a faster response system.

 

You’ll still need human cybersecurity experts, but remediation technologies allow highly trained specialists to better utilize their skills to benefit other aspects of the security posture. Your security won’t depend on manual actions at every step; experts will instead be allowed to focus on more complex challenges.

 

Enhanced Scalability and Efficiency

Manual processes are necessary in some scenarios, but you need more trained personnel to scale them. Comparatively, automated systems can scale exponentially by increasing usage without directly increasing HR expenses.

 

Automated systems certainly aren’t free, but their costs are typically tied to usage. This creates a more scalable and more predictable increase in costs.

 

Additionally, auto-remediation has exponential efficiency gains as you scale. You’ll experience a minimal increase in speed as the company’s infrastructure grows, but with manual processes, efficiency is locked to available personnel.

 

Challenges in Implementing Automated Remediation

Automatic remediation can raise concerns among stakeholders, specifically when it comes to allowing the platform to take automatic actions. When implemented well, auto-remediation offers significant benefits — but if key challenges are not addressed, the tool can wreak havoc.

 

Let’s explore some of these challenges and then dive into best practices that address them, including:

• Contextual complexity: It’s complex to fully automate the remediation process without negatively affecting critical production environments. Additionally, remediation actions must be carefully tailored to the specific context of the vulnerabilities they address. Tools are needed to simulate remediation outcomes and contextual impacts to ensure that operations are not disrupted.
• Customizing requirements: Different industries and organizations have unique compliance requirements and risk tolerance levels. Automation tools must be highly customizable to fit specific business needs so organizations can create workflows that balance security with business continuity.
• Organizational barriers: Moving from manual to automated process requires organizational changes throughout IT. Additionally, some IT staff may have concerns about job displacement when shifting to AI-driven tools, making it critical to assure these experts that they won’t be replaced.

Automated Remediation Best Practices

Automated cloud security remediation can be a powerful asset to an organization, but it must be implemented correctly. So, let’s review a few critical best practices so you’re ready to reap the benefits of these leading-edge platforms.

 

Define Clear Remediation Playbooks

Organizations should develop detailed remediation playbooks to outline the steps that need to be taken for different types of vulnerabilities. 

 

Traditionally, cybersecurity playbooks are intended for trained experts to follow in a crisis or throughout daily tasks. Auto remediation shifts the focus of playbooks to how these platforms are implemented and customized. 

 

These playbooks should include pre-approved automated actions so the platform can work without human intervention. However, they should also dictate when automatic actions should be delayed and instead trigger an alert for IT staff to review.

 

Prioritize High-Risk Vulnerabilities

Not all vulnerabilities are equally critical and shouldn’t be prioritized as equal. Automated platforms should be capable of focusing on high-priority threats that pose the most significant risks to organizations.

 

Tools prioritizing threats based on their contextual impact, such as data classification or potential for exploitation, ensure that resources are directed where they are most needed. 

 

A customizable automated security remediation platform will allow you to translate these priorities into the automatic actions taken by the platform.

 

Simulate Remediation Outcomes

Before applying automated fixes in live environments, an ideal platform will be able to simulate potential outcomes before implementing changes to a live environment. Platforms with this ability can conduct contextual impact simulations, provide visibility into the possible effects of an update, and allow teams to choose the safest option when necessary.

 

This feature allows automatic remediation programs to think through the changes they are about to make to ensure there are no errors or issues that may create a bigger problem than they are trying to solve.

 

Implement Continuous Monitoring Feedback Loops

Automated remediation processes should be monitored by human counterparts. Even though next-generation platforms can make highly intelligent decisions, experienced human experts should stay aware of any changes these automated platforms make.

 

Instituting a feedback loop of human monitoring, changes, and updating the platform helps the program become increasingly useful over time. These loops are especially critical in high-risk industries where a small vulnerability may enable a costly attack.

 

Industry-Specific Use Cases of Automated Remediation

How are different industries using automated remediation? While you can find automated remediation platforms in many industries, these platforms are instrumental in high-risk industries. Let’s explore some of the industry-specific use cases for automated remediation:

• Financial services: The highly regulated financial services industry can significantly benefit from automated remediation. Integrating automated security remediation platforms ensures ongoing security even as the IT ecosystem changes. A single exploited vulnerability can have devastating effects on a financial services company — remediation is critical.
• Healthcare: Healthcare organizations must safeguard patient data to comply with regulations like HIPAA. However, staying on top of every possible vulnerability is highly challenging. Automated remediation tools help healthcare providers maintain compliance by automatically detecting and remediating vulnerabilities that may enable a data breach.
• Retail: The retail sector, primarily e-commerce, handles large volumes of customer data and financial transactions, which makes it a prime target for cyberattacks. An automated remediation platform allows for any vulnerabilities to be identified and addressed before they can be exploited, reducing the risk of data theft and fraud.
• Government: The government faces unique security challenges due to the highly sensitive nature of its data. Automated remediation can help government agencies reduce the time it takes to respond to incidents. As a result, agencies can ensure that critical systems remain secure and operational in the face of sophisticated cyber attacks.

 

Team Up with Tamnoon for Industry-Leading Automated Remediation

Automated remediation represents a powerful solution for tackling modern IT security challenges. As the IT ecosystem continues to evolve alongside emerging technologies and changing requirements — so should your security initiatives.

 

When implemented correctly, an automated security remediation platform can reduce risks by resolving detected vulnerabilities before cyber attackers can exploit them. This means preventing more attacks while reducing the cost of a successful data breach.

 

Tamnoon offers a leading-edge automated remediation platform with all the customization you need and human-in-the-loop processes available for more complex challenges. Our platform reduces vulnerabilities while recognizing the need for trained specialists to keep you protected.

 

Discover how automated remediation can help your organization. Book a demo today to learn more.