Flawed Intrusion Detection = A 46% Gash In Your Profits

Written by Chris Bihary | 11/5/14 2:00 PM

When you've invested heavily in a new intrusion detection or prevention system, you expect that it’s going to protect your clients and your entire network. But, the success of your system isn’t solely dependent on the appliance itself. When your system fails, what’s preventing a data breach, and how do you know one has occurred?

The Cost of Being Hacked

Being hacked is almost an inevitable part of doing business and housing data. That’s not to say you shouldn’t invest in network security. But, because of the prevalence of data breaches – 50,000 network intrusions are detected every day – it’s critical to be able to detect intrusions so you’re able to address them.

The frequency with which intrusions are detected is scary enough, but what’s more, the cost of an intrusion on your network has increased by 15% since last year. The infamous breach on the Target network cost the Minnesota company 46% of its quarterly profit year over year, which isn’t even included in the costs depicted above.

Introducing a Point of Failure

For all the good that IDS or IPS provides your business or your clients, it could present a point of failure in your network infrastructure. When appliances become oversubscribed and go down, or require repairs or maintenance, network traffic is no longer captured – due to a broken network link. And while built-in capabilities that protect against failures seem foolproof, if the appliance itself goes down, it’s incapable of utilizing such features.

The Network Edge

Proper network design starts with an understanding of the edge of your network. To avoid downtime and ensure that an intrusion detection or prevention system is able to provide the security you or your clients paid for, you must protect against the risk of oversubscription.

Edge devices are tools capable of accessing and directing traffic from your network to the in-line and passive appliances you employ. They also filter and load-balance network traffic to protect against oversubscription and ensure your applications’ functions.

Learn more about the network edge and the devices that preserve the sanctity of your network and data. Download our complimentary whitepaper: Managing the Edge of the Network: a New Necessity for Security Architects today.

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