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Networking News: 5 Cybersecurity Basics + Cisco AI

July 16, 2019

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In this day and age, the networking world is constantly changing with discovered risks and issues from new technologies, monitoring and security measures in new cloud environments, and many more. With so much note-worthy news, here are some snippets from interesting articles and updates from the industry this month, and what it could mean for the industry as a whole.

Cisco Software to Make Networks Smarter, Safer, More Manageable


Cisco introduced a software at Cisco Live which embraces AI to help customers set consistent network and security policies across their domains and improve intent-based networking. This makes it easier to stretch networking from the data center to the cloud while making the whole environment smarter and easier to manage. This move empowers Cisco to add more functionality to the DNA Center in the future, making it a stronger and more crucial component of your network. Click here to read more. 


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Five  Cybersecurity Basics Every Company Should Prioritize Today


As more and more devices are being made ‘smart’ to help make our lives easier, threat level counts and security data breaches have also been on the rise. It is important that individuals and organizations put them themselves in the best position to keep their information safe and secure. One of the points highlighted is the importance of knowing your assets, whereby classifying each item in a repeatable process to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Read more here in order to learn how to internalize these 5 steps and stay current with the constant changing tides in the technological world. 

 

The Importance Of Consistent Network Security Performance Test Standards


When working with monitoring data and ensuring efficiency, it is often difficult to select the best solution that works for your organization's needs, as each company has their own set of problems. There is a pressing need to have an industry standard when testing applications and solutions in order to be able to make a fair, lateral comparison across all viable options. Read More. 


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Heartbeats Packets Inside the Bypass TAP

If the inline security tool goes off-line, the TAP will bypass the tool and automatically keep the link flowing. The Bypass TAP does this by sending heartbeat packets to the inline security tool. As long as the inline security tool is on-line, the heartbeat packets will be returned to the TAP, and the link traffic will continue to flow through the inline security tool.

If the heartbeat packets are not returned to the TAP (indicating that the inline security tool has gone off-line), the TAP will automatically 'bypass' the inline security tool and keep the link traffic flowing. The TAP also removes the heartbeat packets before sending the network traffic back onto the critical link.

While the TAP is in bypass mode, it continues to send heartbeat packets out to the inline security tool so that once the tool is back on-line, it will begin returning the heartbeat packets back to the TAP indicating that the tool is ready to go back to work. The TAP will then direct the network traffic back through the inline security tool along with the heartbeat packets placing the tool back inline.

Some of you may have noticed a flaw in the logic behind this solution!  You say, “What if the TAP should fail because it is also in-line? Then the link will also fail!” The TAP would now be considered a point of failure. That is a good catch – but in our blog on Bypass vs. Failsafe, I explained that if a TAP were to fail or lose power, it must provide failsafe protection to the link it is attached to. So our network TAP will go into Failsafe mode keeping the link flowing.

Glossary

  1. Single point of failure: a risk to an IT network if one part of the system brings down a larger part of the entire system.

  2. Heartbeat packet: a soft detection technology that monitors the health of inline appliances. Read the heartbeat packet blog here.

  3. Critical link: the connection between two or more network devices or appliances that if the connection fails then the network is disrupted.

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