network visibility
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twork visibility
tect businesses
ew tomorrow
working flexibly between business premises and their homes, network traffic will constantly
and unpredictably switch from LAN to WAN and back, making monitoring and control even
more difficult than with a permanently-remote workforce.
Now more than ever, IT and security teams must have uncompromised visibility across
the network, to ensure all traffic is analysed and potential threats spotted, regardless of
employees’ changing work locations. Because it’s hard to predict how things will evolve -
whether remote working will be enforced again, or what cyber-risks will arise - organisations
must strive for resilience and be prepared to quickly adapt their security approach. When
devising their strategies in these uncertain times, businesses should seek threat detection
solutions that can be easily installed and that can rapidly improve security outcomes and
generate ROI, thereby driving agility and cost-efficiency.
Enhancing visibility and security on a budget
As revenues shrink due to the crisis, companies are forced to resolve unprecedented
problems on a tight or reduced budget. In a new tomorrow where customer demand can
drop unexpectedly due to global events, working with optimisation in mind is fundamental.
When it comes to network monitoring, there are ways to drive cost-efficiency while
ensuring threat protection - for instance, eliminating duplicate traffic and data from
low-risk applications. Due to limited resources and cautious policies aimed at retaining
profits, companies are currently unable to invest in new solutions to battle new challenges
- instead, they can redeploy unused network monitoring tools to make the most of existing
assets.
Optimising resources also means using employees’ time and energy more efficiently:
with teams overwhelmed by IT requests from remote and fluid workers, technology must be
leveraged to speed up repetitive jobs and improve results. These measures combined can
enable significant cost savings and enhance security capabilities by up to 70%. At a time
where cyberthreats are fierce and ever-changing, this can be of vital help.
attacks take place. Only then will employees be empowered
to work safely, wherever they are, maintaining security across
the business.
Adapting to an evolving situation
One of the most destabilising aspects of this year’s
events is the speed at which the workplace drastically
changed: companies had to quickly change gears to manage
and protect a workforce that became remote overnight.
Businesses, many of them unprepared for this shift, saw
employees suddenly access company resources with their
own unsecured devices, or use company laptops with personal
WiFi connections. This made corporate networks infinitely
more complex, broadening the attack surface and increasing
risks. Now, with staff transitioning back to the office, or
Embracing new strategies
All periods of crisis, while causing unwelcome disruptions, can be an opportunity for
evolution and positive change. For example, defending company networks in an entirely
new cybersecurity landscape requires rethinking traditional approaches to security and
adopting innovative methods. The unpredictability of fluid working - with staff cooperating
remotely from virtually anywhere, with whatever device or connection is more convenient
- means networks with a defined perimeter are now ancient history. Therefore, considering
assets “safe” just because they sit within the network can be incredibly risky - in other words,
no user should be granted implicit trust.
That’s why many organisations are finally abandoning privilege-based access
management methods, unsuitable to secure the modern digital workplace, and are
embracing a Zero Trust framework, in which access to resources is given based on user
behaviour. Gathering and analysing the necessary information is only possible by
thoroughly monitoring all network traffic - you can’t monitor what you can’t see, so at the
heart of a ZT architecture is complete network visibility.
No one expected this year to be as testing as it has been so far and few organisations
were prepared for the financial difficulties, IT issues and security threats created by this
new norm. The road ahead is challenging to say the least but, with network visibility as
the cornerstone of their cyber-strategy, organisations can to optimise investments, adapt
agilely and ensure protection in the next phase of the pandemic and beyond. n
www.networkseuropemagazine.com