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Posted July 26, 2019
“Vintage” might be trendy when it comes to fashion, but it’s one of the last things you want when it comes to the technology you use to run your business.
Despite their limitations and the vulnerabilities they introduce, many organizations continue to rely on legacy systems because they play key roles in certain business functions. In this way, maintaining legacy systems becomes a balancing act for cybersecurity teams as they must juggle user needs, technology, and business objectives with security and liability. These systems often have very few users and can be forgotten about by system administrators. In such an environment, legacy systems likely aren’t receiving the latest updates and critical patches (if available), which creates weaknesses within an organization’s infrastructure that cyberattackers can exploit.
Is your organization reliant on legacy systems? Below are our tips for assessing and improving the management of these systems.
The first step when it comes to legacy systems is to identify the type of system. Knowing what you are working with will give you key information necessary to determining whether the system is worth maintaining, its place within your infrastructure, and what risks it could introduce. Are the systems custom built, or where they “off the shelf” solutions? Who built the system, are they still in business, and do they still support it? Has the system been modified? These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself when evaluating legacy systems.
Once you have identified all of the legacy systems on your network, you should isolate them and remove them from public access. Any system with known vulnerabilities should either be patched or disabled. After these systems are identified and isolated, you should also create new controls and protocols surrounding their use. Revoke access for any unnecessary users or accounts and monitor the system for suspicious activity or data transmission.
Do you know who is currently in charge of maintenance for legacy systems? Who is responsible for patching and updating these systems on a regular basis? Define key personnel to complete these tasks and ensure they are trained on any complexities or nuances related to these older systems.
In some cases, a legacy system or the code it’s built with may be so old that it is prohibitively challenging or costly to maintain. Or, perhaps the system was a custom build and the designer has been gone for years and didn’t leave proper documentation. And what happens when a manufacturer announces they will no longer support a product? Scenarios like these can make it difficult to protect older systems or scale them to meet the needs of a growing business. In this case, you may want to consider creating a transition plan and sunsetting your legacy systems entirely. If you find yourself maintaining an older system simply because “it’s the way we’ve always done it,” then it is probably time to introduce a new solution that can evolve along with your organization and supports innovation.
Many organizations continue to maintain legacy systems because they have determined it is “cheaper” than moving to a more modern solution. When you consider the long-term cost of managing and supporting legacy systems, however, you may find that it is actually more expensive than investing in new technology. Some costs related to legacy systems are obvious, such as upgrades and support, but there are hidden costs you may not be considering. For example, the more time your staff spends on maintaining legacy systems only used by a few employees means less time spent on implementing new systems that will help your organization generate revenue.
Another thing to consider: will you still think the cost savings of that legacy system are worth it when the vulnerabilities within it are the source of your next cybersecurity incident?
There is no silver bullet when it comes to legacy systems. In reality, maintenance of these systems will only become harder as they age and the workforce that created, installed and understood them retires. (The banking industry is already experiencing this with COBOL-based systems. Due to a shrinking number of workers with COBOL experience, financial institutions often need to call in retirees when they need to implement patches or upgrades.) With this future in mind, it’s recommended that companies put together a security and IT team that can validate the viability of current legacy systems, identify risks within that environment, and create a corrective action plan to address these issues.
Ultimately, you must assess your legacy system environment and decide whether the level of risk these systems introduce to your business is acceptable. It’s not possible to eliminate all threats to your legacy systems, but strong cybersecurity policies and procedures can help you manage and mitigate associated risks.
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Ho Chin is Chief Financial Officer at GreyCastle Security. In this role, Ho leads Finance, HR, IT and Professional Development. As part of the executive leadership team, Ho works to establish the company’s overall strategy and ensure proper execution of the supporting initiatives pertaining to the above areas of responsibility.
Prior to joining GreyCastle Security, Ho led finance and administrative functions at multiple private equity and venture-backed portfolio companies across multiple industries. Ho holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University in Centre County, Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Michael Stamas is an entrepreneur, board member, Vice President and a founder of GreyCastle Security. With more than two decades of experience in the technology sector, Mike pairs his management and business development skills with a deep understanding of cybersecurity. Mike brings a unique brand of risk-based advising to GreyCastle clients and prospects.
Mike holds certifications in numerous security and technology related areas, including the Department of Homeland Security and other security technologies like Symantec, Cisco and Microsoft.
Mike plays an active role in his community and serves as a board member and Vice President of InfraGard Albany as well as an advisory board position with the Capital Region YMCA.
Mike has been recognized for his numerous achievements through various honors including the Albany Business Review’s prestigious 40 Under 40 award.
Dan Kalil is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board Chairman at GreyCastle Security. In this role, Dan provides vision, leadership and strategies that drive GreyCastle Security’s position as an industry leader. With an emphasis on customer success, Dan’s profitable growth model leverages a customer-centric business approach that balances employee wellbeing and social responsibility.
Prior to becoming CEO, Dan served as the company’s Chief Strategy Officer, during which he supported multiple acquisitions and helped the organization achieve substantial sales growth. In addition to serving as CEO at GreyCastle Security, Dan continues to hold the position of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Assured information Security (AIS) in Rome, New York, a company he co-founded in 2001.
Over the course of the last 22 years, Dan has been committed to advancing the state of cybersecurity and has played an instrumental role in the identification and development of critical, next-generation cyber capabilities. He has held positions in almost every facet of cybersecurity, beginning as a computer forensic examiner and progressing through the management and executive leadership ranks. In addition to co-founding AIS, Dan has facilitated multiple cybersecurity startups, raised investment capital and has served in various lead and support roles toward the acquisition of five companies in the last eight years.
Dan has a bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity and a master’s degree in Cybersecurity from Utica College in Utica, New York.
Dan Maynard serves as GreyCastle Security’s Chief Operating Officer, where he currently leads Sales, Marketing and Legal.
Dan has enjoyed a 30+ year career in the Information Technology and Telecommunications industry, during which time he has held various leadership positions for organizations such as Rochester Tel/RCI, Citizens Communications (Frontier), PAETEC Communications, IntegraOptics, tw telecom/Level3 and Centurylink.
In addition to various voice and data technology platforms, he possesses a strong background in leadership development, sales and marketing leadership, transformational leadership and strategic planning. Dan has a thirst for knowledge and as a committed lifelong learner, he encourages and supports professional development initiatives for his teams and continues his involvement with Vistage International.
Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he was selected as a member of their Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.
When not at work, Dan enjoys traveling, golfing, attending Utica Comets hockey games and relaxing in the Adirondacks on beautiful Canada Lake with family and friends.
Dan Didier is the Vice President of Solutions and board member at GreyCastle Security.
Dan has been a cybersecurity practitioner for more than 20 years and uses his knowledge and experience to develop cybersecurity solutions that ensure readiness and preparedness.
Dan received his bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications from SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica, New York, and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a master’s degree in Information Assurance from Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont.
Our Computer Incident Response Teams (CIRTs) have responded to hundreds of breaches, intrusions, malware infections, thefts, employee investigations, fraud cases and other incidents. Our highly-certified experts have extensive experience in command, coordination and correction of incidents in nearly every industry throughout North America, from local businesses to Fortune 500 international conglomerates.
800-403-8350Francesca LoPorto-Brandow is Director of Culture at GreyCastle Security. In this role, Francesca leads all social responsibility efforts and partnerships and develops effective strategies that promote organizational-wide behaviors and attitudes consistent with a culture of safety, inclusion, teamwork, motivation and high-performance.
Prior to this role, Francesca was Director of People & Culture at GreyCastle and with her leadership, the company’s culture has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as a Nationally recognized Best Workplace, Albany Business Review Best Places to Work and Albany Times Union Top Workplaces.
Before joining GreyCastle Security, Francesca worked as an OD consultant and focused on strategic culture change at The Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group, Inc. for more than six years. There, she facilitated client education sessions, coached leaders and teams, developed and executed consulting interventions and served as strategy project leader on various client engagements. Her work has taken her into Fortune 100 companies and across borders including Panama, Singapore and beyond.
Francesca is a Lean Six Sigma–certified Green Belt, a proud YWCA-GCR board member and in 2013, she coordinated and emceed the inaugural TEDx Troy—a livestream of TEDCity 2.0. Since 2012, she has coordinated and emceed the Troy 100 Forum, a biannual forum for government, religious and community leaders to discuss issues vital to the future of Troy, New York.
Bilingual in English and Italian, Francesca holds a bachelor’s degree in Management and Technology from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lally School of Management & Technology. She was awarded Cybersecurity Recruiter of the year North America in 2017 by the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards.
Jamie Aiello is Senior Vice President of Services and Product Management at GreyCastle Security. In this position, Jamie is responsible for leading a high performing and well-balanced team that is ultimately responsible for the identification, selection, execution and successful performance of our company’s diverse portfolio of cybersecurity offerings.
Prior to joining GreyCastle Security, Jamie has held leadership positions with Annese and Associates, ConvergeOne and BlueSky IT Partners with a focus on delivering cost effective information technology solutions for companies across multiple verticals.
Jamie holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, a master’s degree in Business Administration from Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina and a master’s degree in Computer Information Systems from University of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona.
