Hi, there. Us again, back for another segment of “Things That Stink... But Don’t Have To.” Today we’re going to talk about cybersecurity, and why it’s generally so effing difficult to get it right. It’s time you park your F-bombs at the door — we’re here to show you how you can make some massive improvements to a critical part of your organization. Let us present our magnum opus (or “really cool thing” for our pinkies down crowd) here at Beacon: Pylon. 

In short, Pylon was designed to bring your existing enterprise IT data together in a meaningful way. Pylon aligns all of those different data sets, paving the way for you to have meaningful insight to what is really running on your network and how it’s allowed to communicate. By way of automated workflows (and an auditable chain of custody to boot), you’ll have all the visibility and continuous monitoring needed to have — get this — better cybersecurity.

What Pylon offers:

Too short? Here’s hoping you’ve got a minute to spare:

Pylon was, like virtually all of our products, developed directly as a result of one question: Does this process suck? Currently, the answer is a resounding “yes, definitely.” That’s exclusively tied to the idea that cybersecurity isn’t just a feature that can be switched on with the click of a mouse. You won’t find it in the Preferences of the software you install. That’s where Pylon comes in.

The Pylons of Cybersecurity

Authorized configuration

This may sound different in your neck of the woods, but Authorized Configurations generally boil down to one concept: The approved set of rules and configurations with which you’re allowed to operate. 

We’ll work with your team to identify the right individual(s) to help us define that rulebook, authoring those guidelines for Pylon to digest and make your life easier. Once authored, the next person in your workflow simply pops into Pylon for a quick search and clicks on your Authorized Configuration before it all really gets moving. 

Pylon will reduce your level of effort in implementing compliance (whether it be STIGs, ATOs, or any other dizzying acronym that has long since lost its meaning).

deployment intention

Here’s where things start to get a little interesting (and by that we mean complicated and yucky). While the Authorized Configuration seems like it should be the be-all end-all to this conversation, it isn’t. Not by a long shot. 

Pylon’s Deployment Intention allows your administrators and approvers to take the Authorized Configurations and deploy them as intended. That sounds like it should be obvious, but you’d be surprised. 

This isn’t the forgettable and mostly Vin Diesel-less installment of the seemingly never-ending Fast and the Furious franchise — drifting will not be celebrated here.  

Deployment Intention will also force your administrators to create better firewall policies that are A) more secure, and B) actually intentional.

operational reality

And so we’ve reached our finish line; the step that will provide us with some insight on what’s actually taking place. But the fact that this category even exists should tell you that Pylon is every bit as critical as we’re making it out to be. 

Here’s where you get a chance to watch Pylon play a game of Spot the Difference between your Authorized Configuration and Operational Reality.

Pylon will not only identify all of those differences for you, but also provide you with quality recommendations and solutions that will help you realign with your cybersecurity goals while keeping you operational. You’ll then be able to decide what makes most sense for your project.

So why Pylon?

Here’s the thing: Pylon makes it really, really hard to screw any part of this process up. We designed this software to be a valuable solution to a critical problem, never losing sight of the fact that actual human beings will be on the other side of this experience. In other words, we somehow built a useful tool that doesn’t suck to use. Wild, we know.

Did we mention Pylon’s also likely to save you money? We won’t tell you what to do with all your extra cash, but we’re pretty fond of our beer fridge.

Request an evaluation license and demo once you’re ready to learn more.