Preparing your network for the unknown

There is no doubt that the size, severity and complexity of cyber threats is increasing, and mobile applications and the Internet of Things (IoT) present a perfect opportunity for network attacks or cybercrime.

According to the Information Security Forum (ISF), smartphones and other mobile devices are creating a prime target for malicious actors in the IoT: “The rapid uptake of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and the introduction of wearable technologies to the workplace will increase an already-high demand for mobile apps for work and home in the coming year. To meet this increased demand, developers working under intense pressure and on razor-thin profit margins will sacrifice security and thorough testing in favour of speed of delivery and low cost, resulting in poor-quality products more easily hijacked by criminals or hacktivists.”

Unexpected challenges put businesses at risk by introducing security threats to company-approved devices and corporate information. They also take network bandwidth away from mission-critical business applications. Businesses need to be prepared for the potential risks of any app installed on a personal device that is used for work, or that is accessing the corporate network.

With cybercriminals becoming more sophisticated and collaborative, it is impossible for IT departments that are short on skill, time or both to prepare for the next unknown security attack. It is critical that businesses know their current security situation to be able to prepare for the unpredictable, and have the resilience to withstand unforeseen, high-impact events.

According to the Aberdeen Group, to have real knowledge about your infrastructure, you must have end-to-end visibility that goes beyond knowing that your hardware is running. It must extend to enabling deep insight about the applications that are running on your system, who is accessing the network, and on what devices, and if the network and its systems are delivering high levels of performance. Armed with this deep visibility and actionable analytics, businesses can respond to security threats quickly before end-users are impacted.

To prepare for the unknown, look for a solution that includes network management, access control and analytics. It should deliver end-to-end network and application visibility and control to ensure complete security and a superior user experience.

Businesses should look for solutions that let them:

  • see, understand, and control enterprise and mobile app usage on the network at the unified wired and wireless edge, and from the data centre to the mobile edge,
  • identify popular application activity and contain the viral entity of certain apps before network bandwidth, performance, employee productivity or security are impacted, and
  • take actions to enable, eliminate, permit and prioritise applications without degrading wireless performance.

With the right network application insights, businesses can understand, see and control what is on the network today, and prepare for tomorrow’s mobile threat.

Ilan Rubin, Managing Director, Wavelink