In 2019, it’s understood that threats are everywhere, both from external sources (think hackers) and internal employees (accidental or not). Securing the network against these threats is the biggest challenge for CISOs and network managers, as confidential information is now stored on computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets, across multiple data centers, and in public and private clouds. So how do you go about securing that data across multiple platforms?
In order to secure confidential data on various platforms, the push for complete network visibility, both on-prem and in the cloud, needs to be a priority for both network and security teams. This should be a joint initiative by both SecOps and NetOps, as security related incidents are two of the most common complex IT performance issues. Without complete visibility, it is very difficult to effectively monitor and secure a network, as you might only have a window into a certain portion of the network. If the breach or performance issue is not occurring where you have pre-established visibility, it will take much longer to come to a resolution.
This issue is compounded by the fact that most networks are becoming increasingly complex, with on-prem data centers, and both public and private cloud networks all storing different types of data. Cloud services remain the hardest platform to ensure visibility into, and thus secure, since traditional performance monitoring and security tools were not built with cloud in mind.
According to a recent EMA research report, 60% of network managers say that they will need to purchase additional monitoring tools in 2019 to use for their cloud infrastructure. With these new tools, it’s important to make sure that they don’t act in a silo; rather you want all security and performance monitoring tools to work cohesively together, building a complete 360° view of visibility to protect the network.
That’s why Garland Technology offers solutions that enable network visibility into on-prem and hybrid cloud networks. Our best-in-class Network TAP and purpose-built packet broker solutions ensure that regardless of the complexity or location of your network, the security and performance monitoring tools that are vital to identifying and mitigating network performance issues, have access to the necessary network traffic.
Visibility will remain a common theme we keep hearing throughout the rest of 2019. After all, if you can’t see what’s going on in your network, you can’t monitor it, and you certainly can’t protect it.
[Want to learn more about building complete network visibility? Read our latest whitepaper from the analysts at EMA on Best Practices for Building a Network Visibility Fabric.]