Strength in layers: Why a layered approach to security is your best bet

Today’s cyber landscape is evolving rapidly, and  a single line of defense is simply not enough. For IT admins and security professionals, the concept of a layered approach to security has become not just a best practice, but a necessity. 

By integrating multiple layers of protection, organizations can better safeguard their critical assets against a wide array of potential threats. 

The 7 layers of cybersecurity

At the core of this approach are the 7 layers of cybersecurity, each of which play a pivotal role in fortifying your defenses. These layers—ranging from the human layer to mission critical assets—work in concert to create a robust security program that can adapt to and withstand multiple attack vectors. 

Let’s dive into each layer, their main challenges, and how to mitigate risk to be more secure.

1) The Human Layer

The human layer is arguably the most critical component of a robust security strategy, but it’s also one of the most vulnerable. Why? Because people make mistakes. Human error, like falling victim to a phishing attack or using weak passwords, can compromise even the most sophisticated defenses. Securing this layer requires comprehensive training and building a culture of transparency and awareness. 

The main challenge

A significant challenge in implementing security at the human layer is maintaining engagement and ensuring that training remains effective over time. Employees may become complacent or feel that security training is a formality. Keeping training programs engaging and updated with current threats is crucial to keeping the human layer strong.

How to mitigate risk

It's essential to invest in ongoing security awareness training for employees. This training should cover how to identify social engineering attempts, practice good password hygiene, and report an incident. You can even set up simulated phishing exercises to help employees identify suspicious activities and avoid falling for them. 

A robust password policy that mandates regular updates and levels of password complexity can further boost security. Remember, it’s important to foster a culture of openness and education around security, so employees feel equally responsible for protecting company assets and feel confident taking action.

The Rippling solution

Rippling’s fully automated learning management system (LMS) makes cybersecurity training easy to roll out to specific groups at an interval of your choosing. We recommend mandatory completion at least every six months. You can create courses, add enrollment rules, and track progress. Permissions and custom workflows help disseminate password policies to ensure they are viewed and signed.

Rippling provides a password manager (RPass) so shared passwords can be managed and securely stored. We offer fully customizable password policies with the ability to apply different policies to different sets of users as needed. We also offer granular options around two-factor authentication (2FA/MFA), adding another layer of security by requiring an additional login credential beyond username and password.

2) Perimeter Security

Perimeter security forms the first barrier against external threats attempting to access your network. It includes technologies and practices designed to protect the boundary between an organization's internal network and the outside world.

The main challenge

One challenge with perimeter security is managing the increasing complexity and volume of network traffic. As organizations adopt cloud services and remote work, the traditional perimeter becomes blurred, making it difficult to apply consistent security policies. Adapting perimeter security strategies in this environment requires advanced solutions and continuous monitoring.

How to mitigate risk

Firewalls are a fundamental component of perimeter security, controlling the flow of network traffic based on predefined rules. Next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) offer advanced capabilities like application awareness and threat intelligence. Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) can monitor and analyze network traffic for suspicious activity, providing alerts or blocking malicious traffic. And VPNs (virtual private networks) ensure secure remote access by encrypting data transmitted over the internet.

The Rippling solution

Rippling offers a comprehensive device trust solution as part of its integrated IAM and MDM capabilities. Device trust becomes even more powerful when layered with our behavioral detection rules (BDRs).

BDRs in Rippling help flag and block suspicious activity. The combination of Supergroups and BDRs ensure that only users on trusted devices can access company resources. BDRs look at behavior such as location, device, IP address, or failed attempts when employees are signing into Rippling or third-party apps through single sign-on. The BDR then applies a specific action, such as allowing or blocking access, setting a session lifetime, or requiring MFA, based on that behavior.

We also support lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP), which is a powerful software protocol used to lookup users or devices within a network quickly. Rippling lets you manage your Virtual LDAP straight from the Rippling Dashboard. You can view employees’ status, see your company’s connection details, and manage groups, access rules, and settings.

3) Network Security

Network security involves protecting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of data on your network. It encompasses a range of practices and technologies to defend against unauthorized access and cyber threats.

The main challenge

A key challenge in network security is ensuring consistent and comprehensive protection across a diverse and often geographically dispersed network. With the rise of remote work and cloud services, maintaining visibility and control over all network traffic and endpoints becomes increasingly complex, requiring sophisticated tools and strategies.

How to mitigate risk

Implementing network segmentation by dividing the network into segments or VLANs (virtual local area networks) helps contain and control the flow of traffic, limiting the potential spread of attacks. Security information and event management (SIEM) systems aggregate and analyze data from various network devices to detect and respond to threats in real time. Regular network vulnerability assessments and penetration testing help identify and address potential weaknesses before they can be exploited.

The Rippling solution

Rippling can keep Rippling Managed Software deployments up to date (like Chrome, Slack, and more), enforce Operating System updates, and keeps devices up to date with the latest endpoint security patches so your admin doesn’t need to spend valuable hours manually building those installer packages and deploying them.

Plus, Rippling hosts a cloud-based RADIUS authentication server that allows employees to log into the office Wi-Fi or VPN with their Rippling credentials, heightening security for your network. 

4) Endpoint Security

Endpoint security focuses on protecting end-user devices such as laptops, desktops, and mobile devices from cyber threats. Each endpoint represents a potential entry point for attackers, making robust endpoint security crucial.

The main challenge

One challenge in endpoint security is managing and securing a large number of devices, especially with remote work becoming more common. Ensuring that all endpoints are consistently updated, monitored, and protected requires the right tools and understanding of endpoint security best practices.

How to mitigate risk

Endpoint security solutions include antivirus software, anti-malware tools, and endpoint detection and response (EDR) systems. EDR solutions provide real-time monitoring and analysis of endpoint activities, allowing for quick detection and response to suspicious behaviors. Regular updates and patch management are also vital to protect endpoints from vulnerabilities. In the context of a SaaS environment, ensuring that all endpoints used to access the platform are secured helps protect sensitive data and maintain overall system integrity.

The Rippling solution

Rippling has partnered with SentinelOne to provide customers with an industry-leading endpoint detection and response platform (EDR) to detect, analyze, block, and quarantine attacks. When you purchase SentinelOne through Rippling, you can automatically deploy SentinelOne to your managed devices through zero-touch enrollment. SentinelOne flags threats in real time and surfaces details immediately, along with any threat mitigation efforts.

5) Application Security

Application security involves protecting software applications from threats and vulnerabilities throughout their lifecycle. This includes secure coding practices, regular assessments, and incorporating security into the development process. Securing applications is paramount as they are often the main way users interact with business-critical data.

This layer includes more than just software development best practices. It also speaks to user authentication and access to third-party applications. Application security serves as the first line of defense against unauthorized access and data breaches. By implementing robust authentication mechanisms, such as MFA and secure password policies, organizations can significantly reduce the risk of credential theft and account compromise. 

The main challenge

A major challenge in application security is integrating security practices into the development process without slowing down the release cycle. As organizations adopt agile and DevOps methodologies, balancing the need for speed with rigorous security practices requires careful planning and coordination between development and security teams. 

When it comes to user authentication, weak passwords, phishing attacks, and credential theft are prevalent issues that can compromise accounts and sensitive data. Additionally, managing access for a growing number of users and devices, particularly in a remote work environment, complicates the enforcement of consistent security policies. 

How to mitigate risk

Secure coding practices, such as input validation and output encoding, help prevent vulnerabilities like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS). Regular application security assessments, including code reviews and penetration testing, identify and address potential weaknesses. Implementing Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) can further protect applications by filtering and monitoring HTTP requests to block malicious traffic.

To mitigate authentication risks, implementing MFA is critical, as it adds an extra layer of security beyond just passwords. Regularly updating security protocols, conducting vulnerability assessments, and educating users about recognizing phishing attempts can significantly reduce the likelihood of breaches. 

The Rippling solution

Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) is an open standard that allows identity providers (IdPs), such as Rippling, to pass authentication and authorization information to service providers (SPs), such as Google Workspace, Slack, and Asana.

With SSO, each user needs to log in only once to Rippling, and then Rippling will pass the login information to each application when the user attempts to access the third-party application. This replaces the need for employees to remember multiple usernames and passwords for each app they use, which often leads to weak password security and increased risk of a cyber attack.

Rippling’s detailed, custom reports also provide a quick glance at every user in your workforce and the applications they have access to. 

6) Data Security

Data security focuses on protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access, corruption, or theft, both at rest and in transit. Ensuring data security is vital for maintaining confidentiality and compliance with regulations (SOC, ISO, HIPAA).

The main challenge

One challenge in data security is managing and securing vast amounts of data across various storage locations and environments. As organizations increasingly use cloud services and distributed storage, ensuring consistent encryption and access controls becomes more complex.

How to mitigate risk

Data encryption is a fundamental practice for securing data both when it’s stored and during transmission. For instance, AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is commonly used for encrypting stored data, while TLS (Transport Layer Security) protects data transmitted over networks. Data masking and tokenization substitute sensitive information with anonymized values to protect it from unauthorized access. Regular data backups and secure storage of backup copies ensure that data can be recovered in the event of a breach or loss.

The Rippling solution

Data security is our top priority. Rippling combines enterprise-grade security features with regular audits to ensure you are always protected. 

• We leverage vetted cloud providers for hosting all production systems
• All data sent to or from Rippling is encrypted using TLS
• Customer data is encrypted using AES-256
• Rippling’s infrastructure has been designed to be fault tolerant
• We partner with reputable security firms to regularly run internal and external pen tests
• And we offer the ability to create admin permission profiles to ensure only the right employees have access to the data they need to do their jobs

We maintain strict data security practices internally, which are essential for protecting customer data and complying with regulations. We’ve obtained certifications for: SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 , ISO 27018 , and CSA STAR Level 2. 

Data protection and compliance certifications are more than just logos on our website. We are consistently creating new security policies, training employees, and assessing our security controls. In short? Your data is safe with us.

7) Mission Critical Assets

Mission critical assets are the essential systems and components necessary for an organization's core operations. Protecting these assets requires a combination of security measures tailored to their specific needs and importance.

The main challenge

A significant challenge in protecting mission critical assets is ensuring that all potential threats are accounted for and mitigated without disrupting critical operations. Balancing the need for high security with the need for operational efficiency requires careful planning and a thorough understanding of an organization’s critical functions and dependencies.

How to mitigate risk

This may include implementing high-availability solutions, such as redundant systems and failover mechanisms, to ensure continuity of operations in case of a failure or attack. Regular risk assessments and business impact analysis help identify and prioritize these assets based on their significance to business operations. For example, critical infrastructure such as financial systems or proprietary research databases might require additional layers of protection, including physical security measures and specialized monitoring tools. Establishing a robust incident response plan and disaster recovery strategy is also vital to quickly address and mitigate any threats to mission critical assets.

The Rippling solution

Rippling IT’s suite of natively built solutions (IAM, MDM, and Inventory Management), in combination with our partnership with endpoint security leader SentinelOne, put your company in the best position to secure your network, systems, apps, and assets. 

Rippling offers a comprehensive IT inventory management solution that simplifies the process of managing devices for in-office, hybrid, and remote workforces. Our platform streamlines device ordering, shipping, storage, and retrieval, allowing IT teams to securely handle these tasks fully remotely. 

Layer your security with Rippling

As you can see, a layered approach—anchored in the 7 layers of cybersecurity—provides IT admins and security experts with a framework to create a resilient security program that can adapt to existing and emerging risks. 

By prioritizing a proactive, multi-layered security framework, you’re not just protecting your data, you’re fortifying your entire business against the unknown challenges that lie ahead.

Rippling IT makes it easy to strengthen security while eliminating busywork. Instead of juggling multiple systems, with Rippling’s natively built IT solutions, you can securely manage identity, access, devices, and inventory from one platform—all powered by native access to rich user data. Learn more about Rippling IT or schedule a live tour to discuss adopting a layered security approach for your business.