Visualizing IT Systems Using a Configuration Management Database: Asset Management is the First Step to Security

As a result of work style reforms and COVID-19 pandemic, the number of companies promoting online work for employees has skyrocketed in the past few years. At the same time, the devices and data storage locations that companies manage have become increasingly diverse, and even business system configurations themselves have changed significantly. According to Uchida, in the past the focus was on “how we should protect (methods)” for security. Nevertheless, to address current security threats, the first question that needs to be asked is, “what should we protect?” Uchida pointed out that answering this question requires correct asset management.

Many companies manage their asset information “manually,” using spreadsheets or other software. For this reason, information becomes inaccurate, which means that when an incident or malfunction occurs, it is impossible to determine the scope of its impact or to clearly understand the dependencies of all information devices.

To solve this problem, ServiceNow recommends the adoption of a configuration management database (CMDB) to centrally manage IT systems. Concentrating all the latest IT system information in the CMDB makes it possible to visualize the importance of individual systems and asset dependencies. In turn, this enables efficient management of security incidents and device configurations.

ServiceNow also offers Discovery, for automatically collecting system configuration information and storing it in the CMDB, as well as Service Mapping, for accurately visualizing the scope of impacts in the event of a malfunction and promptly notifying users. Explaining the importance of asset management with CMDB, Uchida said, “As well as improving the efficiency of security operations, accurate asset information also makes risk governance and software vulnerability management more efficient. On top of this, it enables effective software supply chain management.”

The need for Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs) has been frequently highlighted in recent years, and their deployment in the manufacturing industry is being seriously considered. Uchida commented, “We are also setting up a customer support system in the area of SBOMs,” pointing to his company’s active involvement in developing services in this area.