3 Network Elements that Make for Strong Security

If you could define a “great” network, what factors would be involved?

The answer is often subjective, but there are a few key elements that are typically included like predictability, visibility, and seamlessness. These days, the role of the network isn’t just to provide a connection, it enables new business initiatives, opens revenue streams, and empowers organizations to be more competitive. But as the network moves from a cost center to a growth driver, we must also consider that improving the network doesn’t just make the end-user experience better, it equates to stronger security.

According to Verizon’s 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report, 62% of breaches featured hacking, but there has been ongoing debate on which poses a greater risk -- insider or outsider threats. Historically, data breaches perpetrated by outsiders are the ones to grab headlines. Either way, the numbers and new stories don’t lie. Our cybersecurity reality is that insiders should no longer be trusted and nefarious actors are getting more sophisticated, and the velocity of attacks are increasing. For companies with siloed and unmanaged networks, even defense in depth won’t be enough without a properly architected and managed network.

What’s Your Network Baseline? The Case for a Predictable Network.

A question that may have you scratching your head -- what’s your baseline? Companies that can’t answer this query and show quantitative proof are certainly more vulnerable to security anomalies. Predictability -- whether of performance or capacity -- is an essential component of IT operations, especially as cloud migrations increase. However, without a network baseline there is no comparison point as events change network traffic patterns, link utilization, packet delivery times, and protocol distributions.

As applications are lifted to the cloud, companies often lose practically all visibility, especially in cases where third-parties manage the environment. If a security event were to occur, it could takes months or years to detect because there would be no defined state of normalcy to use as a basis for accurate threshold triggers.

Don’t Let the Bad Guys Squat in Your Network

The endpoint security market is predicted to reach USD 17.92 billion by 2023 with North America holding the largest share. But as CISOs are sold more endpoint solutions, they still remain in the dark on how security at the edge ties in with the rest of the network. Simply adopting a technology, or even a few security mechanisms, isn’t effective if it’s not integrated and visible on the network.

End-to-end visibility of the network isn’t just a passive function. Visibility allows for greater control to make decisions regarding data flow and protection, and allows companies to monitor network traffic for threats. On average, it takes 214 day to identify data breach incidents, but if every company adopted a monitoring solution, the number would be greatly reduced as it accelerates the time to identify and contain the threat.

Control Who and What is Accessing the Network

The perimeter of the corporate network isn’t what it used to be. With growing amounts of connected devices and applications, the true identity of the user accessing data is often obscured. When it comes to security, there is a fine balance between making the network secure, while still having it convenient to use. Through in-depth threat analytics, data leakage assessments, and cloud risk assessments, the knowledge gained can instruct the proper controls that won’t slow the rate of data exchange on the network or the end-user experience. Whether that involves two-factor authentication or User and Entity Behaviour Analytics to offer more visibility into comprised IDs than just logs, there are a variety of mechanisms that work seamlessly with the modern network.

Is Your Network Great?

The way your infrastructure is designed and maintained directly impacts your security posture -- and when it comes to defending your most precious assets you don’t just want to be good at it, you want to be great. At Edgeworx, our design and engineering practice is dedicated to creating secure, reliable, and high-performing networks. For existing networks we conduct end-to-end threat analysis and performance assessments to provide a snapshot of the current environment to be used as a baseline for improvements. Beyond just statistics, we also develop simulation models for a more detailed view of any major changes.

Don’t let the weaknesses in your network be the downfall in your security. Contact our experts to discuss our assessments at +1.647.793.4731, today!