The availability of unlimited access creates ease and simplicity in the lives of those who require flexibility when interacting with data of various types. However, as convenience brought by remote access continues to grow, so does the threat landscape and vulnerability of widened attack surfaces.
Providing ubiquitous access to data, systems, applications, and other resources is now more challenging as companies become more decentralized and embrace a work-from-anywhere philosophy. Today, enterprises have vast options to select new and emerging broadband services, as well as options that combine networking and security.
In this archived keynote session, Candy Alexander, CISO and Cyber Practice Lead at NeuEon, details why bandwidth and security are both in high demand. This segment was part of our live “Connectivity Solutions for the Remote Workforce” virtual event. The event was presented by Network Computing on November 9, 2023.
View the entire “Connectivity Solutions for the Remote Workforce” live webinar on-demand here.
A transcript of the video follows below. Minor edits have been made for clarity.
Candy Alexander: When you think about it, the world has changed significantly since the pandemic of 2020. Before 2020, cloud adoption was at a much slower and cautious pace, with many organizations sticking their toe into the water with hybrid cloud approaches. During the pandemic and the rush to go remote, cloud or SaaS adoption grew exponentially.
It became painfully clear to everyone that the primary component for productivity depended on bandwidth. The increased bandwidth of networks has become the primary factor of success; whether you're a business just looking to ensure the productivity of your remote workers or provide a cloud service, throughput is everything.
And with that, the world has expanded ubiquitous access and high availability of networks. In today's digital world, businesses of all sizes rely on data. That data is used to make decisions, operate efficiently, and serve customers. Data is essential for everything, from product to development, marketing, and customer support.
However, with the rise of remote work and cloud computing, it has become more challenging to ensure that the data is always accessible and secure. The application of cybersecurity's golden triad of confidentiality, integrity, and availability is now focused on data rather than the on-premises systems and networks.
Again, it's data that has become more important than ever before. One of the biggest challenges of providing ubiquitous secure access is that users now need to be able to access data from anywhere, at any time, and on any device. This can be difficult to manage due to several factors, such as the ever-increasing volume of data and the velocity at which it is generated.
It is increasingly difficult to identify where it is stored and processed and to ensure it is adequately protected. Let's face it, with the decentralization of our controls or security, our user communities can now access data from anywhere and store it anywhere.
When we look at all those challenges and combine them with the thought that data is now being generated in ubiquitous networks – which are highly diverse, complex, and you no longer have control over – it's terrifying. This includes data from a variety of sources, such as sensor networks, mobile devices, and social media.
The data may also be unstructured and semi-structured, making it more difficult to analyze and classify. The diversity and complexity make it challenging to develop and implement data access management solutions that can handle all data types.
Consider that much of the data generated in ubiquitous networks is sensitive and requires strong privacy protection, as mandated, often cases by law. This includes data such as personal information, financial data, and healthcare data. The ubiquitous nature of these networks makes it more difficult to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access.
This is because data can be accessed from anywhere in the world, and malicious actors can easily intercept it. So, where does that bring us? We arrive at the fact that now, we truly have new technologies on the edge of a new frontier. Just as every coin has two sides, all is not lost.
As we saw previously, world events drive new technology and uses. The pandemic era also provided the development of new technologies and approaches, not only in using the data and the networks but also in how to protect them.
Some examples of this include the evolution of the detection and response class solution of tools such as EDR, MDR, and XDR to support the granularity approach used as part of a zero-trust model.
NetOps teams, like Spider Man, have great powers and great responsibilities. Increasingly, they are adopting a Zero Trust approach to network operations to help fight their battles.
Senior stakeholders who want to hold on to their CISOs must ensure that they have sufficient incentives and, more importantly, support to cope with the burden of risk that they are carrying.
The most alarming takeaway from Cisco’s new Cybersecurity Readiness Index report is that even after decades of having the importance of cybersecurity driven home, cyber threats are still taken too lightly.
