Black Hat USA 2024 brought about 20,000 security practitioners, professionals and vendors to Las Vegas for a week of knowledge sharing and socializing. Let me highlight a few themes relating to data security and identity and access management, or IAM, that were woven throughout the week.
Platform vs. point products: The saga continues
The cybersecurity industry has a perennial debate around platforms vs. point products, but the reality is that it isn’t an either-or; it’s both. Platforms provide efficiency by consolidating functions, particularly around mature technologies, and having a single point of contact for support avoids finger-pointing among vendors. Security teams do not enjoy pivoting between consoles or maintaining a diverse tool set, so platforms continue to grow and evolve with players like CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Tenable, Trend Micro and startup Wiz leading the charge.
The flip side of the coin is emerging risks or areas where platforms might not have the agility, focus or depth to solve a problem. Nimble startups might be able to deliver a viable product to solve a problem more quickly, and that functionality can end up being folded into…
