Active Threat Management

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What Does Active Threat Management Mean?

In IT, active threat management means working proactively to defend networks and systems against active threats. The term creates confusion because it is so commonly used in the field of physical security against an active threat, such as an active shooter. In IT, active threat management can mean managing an active threat, or taking an approach to threat management that is active.

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Techopedia Explains Active Threat Management

Here are examples of both of these meanings. Managing active threats means identifying a threat to the system, be it a worm, virus or piece of malware, that is currently active in a system, and mitigating risk and damage by controlling and containing it.

An example of active threat management would be proactive systems that go beyond simple perimeter security to root out emerging or impending threats. By working preemptively, companies can decrease risk and protect systems more effectively.

As a security philosophy, active threat management is highly useful. People will talk about threat management in general as a discipline for network admins and others with skin in the game, or the “security wars,” where white hat hackers strive to keep up with the black hats.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.