The importance of asset management and cybersecurity asset management startups is constantly increasing

The importance of cybersecurity comes down to the desire to keep information, data, and devices private and safe. In today's world, people store vast quantities of data on computers and other internet-connected devices. But in the world of cybersecurity, it is impossible to secure something if you do not know it's there. Cybersecurity asset management is an industry that investors have shown an ever-increasing appetite for over the past 18 months. The cybersecurity industry experienced what is being hailed by some as a "golden year" — funding for cybersecurity asset management startups climbed by 138% to US$29.5 billion in 2021 and M&A activity skyrocketed by more than 294% to US$77.5 billion.

In the last year, Sternum, a Tel Aviv-based startup that provides real-time asset management for internet-connected devices, raised US$27 million; Censys, a search engine for networked devices, secured US$35 million; JupiterOne, a platform that assists organizations to see all of their digital and cloud assets, raised US$19 million; and Axonius, which lets organizations manage and track computing-based assets, bagged US$100 million. Does this article feature why cybersecurity asset management startups are in demand?

What is the difference between IT asset management and cybersecurity asset management?

Before going deep into cybersecurity asset management, let's take a quick look at what IT asset management (ITAM) entails. IT asset management means a set of processes surrounding the financial, inventory, contractual, and lifecycle management of an IT asset. It helps maximize the business value obtained from these assets. In this case, an IT asset is really any device or cloud instance used for business purposes.

Key aspects of ITAM programs include:

Asset inventory – Getting a comprehensive inventory of all hardware, software, and network assets

License management – Ensuring all assets are running properly licensed software

Lifecycle management – Deciding which assets should be decommissioned, managing the software licenses on these assets, and updating the inventory

Using this traditional definition, IT asset management would then be the sole responsibility of the IT and desktop support teams.

However, the process of gathering data about every asset and understanding what software is running is also critical and foundational to cybersecurity.

What is cybersecurity asset management?

Cybersecurity asset management is the method involved with identifying, on a continuous, real-time basis, the IT assets that your organization claims and the potential security dangers or gaps that affect each one. In this specific circumstance, resources take many structures. They could be traditional devices, like PCs and servers. Or then again, they could be particular IoT, IoMT, IIoT, or OT gadgets or programming characterized assets, similar to a cloud-based data set or an organization possessed domain. Any gadget, asset, or service that exists inside your IT estate could be likely to dangers or weaknesses that lead to a break of the singular asset and your organization overall if assailants utilize one compromised asset as a foothold to send off a more extensive assault.

So what makes cybersecurity asset management startups trendy and is it important?

Cybersecurity asset management startups empower your security team and the overall business, with the visibility it needs to build a comprehensive security strategy that mitigates threats quickly and proactively. Here are several reasons that make cybersecurity asset management startups:

Cybersecurity is not a distraction

With a strong cybersecurity asset management process in place, organizations can convey new IT administrations or assets without allowing security to turn into an interruption or block. They can settle on choices in light of business needs, sure that whichever transforms they make, their cyber security asset management process will catch potential vulnerabilities.

Proactive response

Cybersecurity asset management guarantees that security teams recognize dangers before they develop into significant issues. By consistently checking the IT domain for new organizations and dangers, groups don't need to delay until they recognize a functioning assault to react.

Security visibility

If an attack does occur, cybersecurity asset management provides the security team with an inventory of assets and risks that it can use to gain context on what went wrong and when. Rather than remaking the condition of asset organizations and setups to investigate the beginnings of a break or weakness, groups have a cutting-edge record that they can allude to right away.

In all of these ways, cybersecurity asset management places organizations in a stronger position to recognize and respond to security chances. Despite the fact that cybersecurity asset management is only one component of an effective cybersecurity strategy, it's impossible in most cases to maintain proactive security operations without cybersecurity asset management in place.