“Fundamentally, we need to change the way we interact with the Internet… This whole reactive approach we’ve taken for years just doesn’t work.”

That is the opinion of Frank Dickson, the Research Director for Worldwide Security Products at International Data Corp. He was talking about the need for a more assertive, dynamic whitelisting approach to protecting personal and corporate technology.

One of the reasons that people – especially businesses – don’t utilize whitelisting is that it is so manual intensive. Someone has to create the whitelist and keep it up to date. We agree. It can be tedious.

However, what if there were a better way to do whitelisting?

There Is a Better Way.

It is dynamic whitelisting. Think of it as the difference between being the maître d at a restaurant or being one at an exclusive club.

A whitelist is like the maître d at a restaurant checks a list that changes daily to see if you have a reservation. Assuming that you have a reservation, the maître d will allow you to enter and arrange to have you seated. If you are not on the list, you will be politely turned away.

A dynamic whitelist is like the maître d at an exclusive club may have a reservations list, but your name is not going to be on his list unless it is first on the club’s membership list.

Dynamic Whitelisting Is Not New But Still Developing

Even some computer technicians think that dynamic whitelisting is new, but there is at least one report online that cites dynamic whitelisting as having been used in highly-regulated businesses and industries before 2009.

It is increasingly apparent that the accelerating pace of software and application development is rendering companies unable to keep pace. Dynamic whitelisting “facilitates an immediate reaction to any updates in the software world.” Dynamic whitelisting is being refined by leading technology security firms utilizing artificial intelligence, certifications, software tracking, processing, analysis, and classification.

Information is aggregated and loaded into massive databases in real time. Businesses that subscribe to what may become known as WLaaS (Whitelisting as a Service) will no longer have to manage whitelists daily. The security firm provider’s database is akin to the exclusive club’s membership list. If the software is not in the database, it will not be seated in your system.

Look for our next whitelist article, “Why BYOD Makes a Case for Whitelisting.”

Tech Sentries is as concerned about your computer system security as you are. Your computer system security is our business. That’s why Tech Sentries is always on duty. Contact us today to learn how we can help you “GUARD YOUR TECHNOLOGY” (843-282-2222).