Network as a Cyber Security Sensor & Enforcer
By Joe Beel, Doug Moore
Use Your Network as a Powerful Security Sensor Your network continuously faces cyber attacks that are very sophisticated and the number of connected devices is growing exponentially. Each connection is a potential attack entry point. You need security beyond the traditional enterprise network perimeter. Embedded security capabilities can transform your network into a security monitoring system that gives you broad/deep visibility. Increase Visibility: You Can’t Mitigate What You Can’t See You can get the global network visibility you need in the form of detailed security analytics from contextual data and real-time monitoring and alerts. You can rapidly detect malicious activities – abnormal data movements, suspicious traffic and advanced threats. You see how your traffic is flowing, which devices are accessing your network and malicious activity. Timely and Efficient Threat Intelligence Information You can rapidly identify threat source and target information about user, device, location, and other critical attributes to significantly shorten the time to discover and identify malicious behavior on the network. Use Network Segmentation to Contain Risks Your network can serve as a security policy enforcer. You can contain threats by partitioning your network into smaller segments. Through software-defined network segmentation, you can protect the segments using specific group policies that determine user access based on role and mission need. You greatly reduce your “attack surface” and even if hackers do make their way into your network, they can no longer move freely about. Centrally Enforce Dynamic Policy With your network acting as a security enforcer, you centrally apply your security policies network-wide. The right users and devices can enjoy the right access, and you contain the impact of an attack. A centralized policy engine can provide real-time access control decisions for switches, routers, and security devices to help lower security risks, improve security operational efficiency, and enhance compliance.