#OTTuesday: How to Secure the Bank of OTT

What does the concept of Herd Immunity have to do with OTT? To find out, I spoke with security expert Jay Coley for this AkamaiTV interview at IBC. Jay explained the biology – and the power – of cooperation in the face of growing security risks to broadcasters.

Herd immunity is the concept that the more members of a population that are immune to certain disease, the harder it will be for a disease to spread, resulting in it dying out entirely. This is the same philosophy behind the mass vaccination which eradicated polio.

Media companies can benefit from applying a similar approach to security. In cybersecurity, the more companies that protect themselves from common attacks –  credential stuffing, DDoS, customer data breach – the less attractive that attack becomes.

When a critical portion of a community is immunized against a contagious disease, most members of the community are protected against that disease. Source: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Why is that the case? Because hackers seek the path of least resistance. If a technique can be used repeatedly if the hacker can amortize the cost of that technique across many targets, they’ll keep using it. By contrast, if fewer and fewer targets are vulnerable, the hacker will move on to a new attack, or a new set of targets.

That does mean that security is a continuous battle as hackers develop new attack methods. But as media companies work en masse to make it harder for hackers to use certain hacking techniques, those techniques will become less common, making the industry as a whole more secure.

Jay spent years in the U.S. military, and many more years in the security industry. His unique perspective has a lot to offer broadcasters and OTT providers. So watch our #OTTuesday video, and when you’re done, take a look at how our security solutions can help protect your media business.

Shane Keats is Director of Industry Marketing for Media at Akamai. 

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from The Akamai Blog authored by Shane Keats. Read the original post at: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheAkamaiBlog/~3/iUDTi4pWaUg/ottuesday-how-to-secure-the-bank-of-ott-1.html