As businesses are becoming digital, the network appears to have become the center of all business. However, digitization also means that the perimeter of threats has increased many fold and the ever expanding surface has made it more difficult to protect as threats get more advanced and attackers use new ways of encryption to attack the data.
Ironically though, while on the one hand the network faces more threats, the same network can also be used as a security asset to both detect as well as contain threats as they get more complicated.
The shield of protection
In order to protect data that traverses the network it is important to be able to have a 360-degree visibility into the types of users, devices, applications and workloads that hit and pass through the network. As the use of cloud-based applications increase, it is important to stop attackers from acting by reducing the possible attack surface. One way to do that is called as role – based segmentation of the network.
In addition to that, there is an urgent need to accelerate the incident response time. This means that enterprises must be able to identify the cause of an attack, prevent it, and also rectify the damage within minutes by using automated detection. While protection is critical, a better way is to be equipped to prevent the breach itself. By using solutions that quickly detect and respond to threats it is possible to stop hackers from causing data destruction and reduce the chances of disruption in the operations of the enterprise.
The Cisco way
At Cisco we have a suite of products and solutions that will help secure the network and the data that runs through it. Cisco DNA architecture prescribes to the policy of segmentation and enforcement whereby it is possible to provide secured access to the network, gain insights into what is hitting the network and get real time alerts and notifications in case of a violation or compromise. Cisco SD- Access for example helps provide data access to only authorized users thereby reducing the chance of a breach. In the long run, this helps to prevent potential attacks and gives the organization the power to take appropriate remedial action to prevent a data breach.
Like its solutions, security services that are provided by Cisco can enable enterprises to implement technologies that help to predict, prevent and protect the network as enterprises grow in size and more data continues to traverse its networks. Cisco SD-WAN ensures consistent security across the cloud, users and branches so that the enterprises can operate in a highly secure environment.
In summary therefore, it is important that enterprises choose solutions and products that help provide protection by identifying threats while ensuring compliance. Taking an architectural approach to security enables enterprises detect threats in time. Integrated security solutions help create a protected environment within minutes so as to minimize damage that might be caused by a likely attack.
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2 Comments
Great points raised and thank you for summarising this. Effective read for any CXO to understand how an integrated architectural approach can benefit enterprises in the long run.
Well articulated Kunal!