Financial news

By Jonathan Wright

As digital transformation accelerates, so do the avenues for business growth. Yet, amidst this promising landscape, there’s a less glamorous truth often overlooked – the simultaneous rise in cyber-attack vulnerabilities.  

As the digital landscape expands, so too does the attack surface with the rise of cyber threats that can cripple enterprises. Businesses are mitigating the risk of cyberattacks by confronting them head-on with the likes of cutting-edge networking solutions. 

The original promise of SD-WAN 

So, what type of solutions? Well, for a time, this meant implementing the likes of Software-defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) architecture. Indeed, once an innovative solution, SD-WAN was originally tasked with optimising application traffic for a better user experience.  

The challenge with SD-WAN is that it is an On-Premises network access technology first, and a security tool second. Its primary function is to ensure application traffic is routed via the most optimum path utilising cheap internet access circuits.  

This, to be candid, means SD-WAN is simply no longer a technology that should be relied on as businesses continue to adopt flexible models. SD-WAN may have been considered secure when working in the office was considered the status quo, but for hybrid working SD-WAN not only fails to scale, but also fails to provide consistent security for enterprise users regardless of device or location.  

The growing cyber-threat  

Every MAC address, IP address, device, user, and application fuels the growth of an enterprise attack surface. This means organisations now need to consider new elements of security, including end-point protection, inline-network protection, cloud-based application protection, user and device protection and identity, as well as visibility – this is why the ZTNA framework has never been so significant.  

SD-WAN can be a component of the ZTNA framework, but on its own, SD-WAN is simply not up to the task of providing an end-to-end network and security solution for the modern-day hybrid working model.  

Of course, this isn’t really SD-WAN’s fault. It simply at the time was not designed to meet the modern challenges of security. But now, as more users, devices, networks, and applications increase as part of modern working models, there are too many points of entry for cyber-criminals. Therefore, continuing to rely only on this technology in the growing threat landscape is not only no longer feasible, but it is not secure for business operations. New, advanced security services such as CASB and DLP typically come at an additional cost with licenses, resulting in the not-so-promised “cheaper” SD-WAN solution.  

Building on existing network infrastructure 

The question is, how can organisations best make use of the technology they’ve invested so heavily in? SD-WAN may have its shortcomings in the modern workplace, but it shouldn’t be scrapped completely. What we are starting to see more and more is organisations applying cloud security infrastructure like Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) on top of their existing SD-WAN. 

By combining these two architectures, businesses reap the benefits of SD-WAN with the additional end-to-end security functions provided by SASE as the cherry on top. In practice, this means network security functions remain robust both on endpoint devices and in offices with end-to-end visibility coupled with a uniform yet scalable security policy irrespective of device and location, mitigating the vast majority of the cyber threats introduced by hybrid and remote working models.  

Centralising network operations 

Centralising network operations in this way opens businesses to a whole host of benefits. By unifying the scope of network management to a central platform, not only can businesses gain from synchronised visibility, but businesses can apply policy and configurations more efficiently network-wide. Centralisation also simplifies composite operations that can help improve not only efficiency but cost-savings too. In addition, centralising network operations to a single platform can help businesses reduce the pressure on overworked IT teams by streamlining processes through automation and providing a central dashboard for easier monitoring and management. 

Today, business operations are increasing in scale to the point where many operations extend across several countries and continents, which comes with unique challenges like differing compliance standards. This is another place where businesses stand to benefit from unified network management. A single streamlined platform makes complying with several different compliance standards far easier, which in addition to its security benefits, also reduces MTTR times by providing superior event stitching. 

Underpinning networks with zero-trust 

But, it’s not just that. Unifying these solutions on a single platform allows businesses to easily support their networks with that extra level of security thanks to the likes of the zero-trust framework. This is key as it provides a platform to implement security policy at a more granular level, meaning greater visibility, improved telemetry, and consistent security inspection from endpoint user/device to application/service. 

By doing this, businesses can secure their IT assets and access through a single ZTNA framework whilst having the visibility to vital data that reflects the security and network, across the business that is essential to ward off cyber-attacks.  

This is the vital element SASE architecture provides by not only laying the foundation for a single-stack vendor solution but also underpinning the ZTNA framework. SASE’s centralised framework facilitates the consolidation of network and security services and ensures every packet is inspected, policed, and then processed. Secure hybrid and remote working environments can’t exist without these capabilities, which is crucial for modern businesses to safeguard themselves from agile and evolving threats.  

Future-proof network management  

We live in a rapidly changing business ecosystem, where innovation advances us exponentially, but also comes with challenges. Modern working models, where employees can work from wherever and whenever they want are here to stay. Therefore, businesses can no longer afford to overlook centralised and unified security architectures which support this new working way of life. 

Solidifying network operations through a combination of SD-WAN and SASE into centralised, zero-trust supported platforms is the future. If done properly, this can not only simplify IT operations but make for a more robust, cost-effective security policy that businesses can rely on to future-proof their network management for years to come. 

About the Author

Jonathan Wright is director of products and operations at GCX, where he is committed to innovation and client-centric solutions. He previously held sales and leadership positions in telecom and managed IT services. He graduated with a bachelor of law degree from the University of Manchester.