Cloud adoption is transforming businesses – however, it also introduces new security challenges. Traditional network security practices struggle to adapt to the cloud’s dynamic nature, exposing organizations. A key question must be asked: How can an enterprise effectively secure data and applications amid the widespread adoption of the cloud? A unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) offers a comprehensive solution. Let’s examine the obstacles organizations encounter when securing their cloud deployments, and how a unified SASE platform can effectively mitigate these challenges.

Challenges In Digital Transformation

The digital era is characterized by two major trends: a surge in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and various enterprises’ widespread adoption of cloud services. Fundamentally, these trends demand a fundamental shift in how organizations approach security.

A recent study published in the Wall Street Journal revealed a 13% increase in the global average cost of data breaches since 2020. In 2022, it reached a hefty average of $4.35 million. This highlights the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, which have doubled in recent years, constantly testing an organization’s defenses.

These factors contribute to the following challenges faced by organizations in the digital era:

• Traditional data center-centric security, built around centralized firewalls, is failing to keep pace as applications migrate to the cloud and users access data from anywhere. This is especially true for organizations with hybrid work models where data and applications are scattered across various locations.
• Legacy security methods suffer from many limitations including bottlenecks and limited scalability for geographically dispersed users. Additionally, inconsistent security policies across devices and networks increase complexity and leave vulnerabilities. Finally, traditional VPNs, designed for on-premises networks, limit cloud adoption by focusing on user access rather than securing cloud workloads.

To navigate this complexity, organizations need a comprehensive security solution. This solution should provide three key functionalities: secure and reliable user access, robust cloud application protection, and agile security management. Unified SASE stands out as an answer to these challenges, as it offers a cloud-based, integrated security framework that adapts to the changing needs of businesses.

How Unified SASE Simplifies Security

Unified SASE offers a more streamlined solution by combining SD-WAN with comprehensive network security functions like secure web gateways (SWG), cloud access security brokers (CASB), firewalls as a service (FWaaS), and zero trust network access (ZTNA). This integrated approach is designed to meet the evolving security needs of today’s digital businesses, especially those with hybrid workforces and cloud-based applications.

Think of it this way: Instead of a bulky security setup at each branch office, SASE provides a thin WAN edge with the full suite of security features delivered as a convenient cloud service. This approach unlocks a multitude of benefits to enhance your organization’s operations, such as:

1. Streamlined Security: SASE consolidates networking and security functions into a single, cloud-delivered solution. This simplifies management and eliminates the need for multiple-point products.
2. Unified Security Posture: IT teams can apply consistent security policies and centralized access controls across all networks, regardless of location. This reduces the attack surface, making it easier to detect and respond to threats.
3. Reduced Complexity: SASE streamlines network and security deployment and management. Save time and resources by eliminating the need for multiple hardware appliances.
4. Optimized User Experience: SASE ensures secure, high-performance, and low-latency connections for users accessing applications and resources. This eliminates the need for backhauling traffic through a central data center, improving overall user experience.
5. Scalability: SASE can easily adapt to changing business needs. It can support initiatives like hybrid work, cloud migration, and the adoption of IoT and OT devices.

Exploring Unified SASE Solutions

understands the challenges businesses face in today’s digital world. To address these concerns, they have partnered with leading cloud security providers to offer a comprehensive SASE solution. This solution seamlessly combines technology with their . By embracing a zero-trust approach, HPE Aruba Networking empowers organizations to secure users and applications everywhere. This unified and powerful solution allows businesses to confidently pursue digital transformation with a robust and secure access strategy.

HPE offers a unified approach to SASE built on three key components:

1. HPE Aruba Networking SSE: This solution provides both agent-based and agentless ZTNA, granting you deployment flexibility. Additionally, it offers unified policy management for streamlined control and a global network of points of presence (PoPs) for optimal performance.
2. EdgeConnect SD-WAN: It transcends traditional SD-WAN with multi-cloud support, guaranteeing secure access to any cloud application. By prioritizing user experience, it optimizes application performance for a seamless workday.
3. HPE Aruba Networking Central NetConductor and ClearPass: This combination offers a unified network access control (NAC) solution. Powered by AI, it delivers deep client insights and enforces granular access through dynamic segmentation. Continuous network monitoring identifies and mitigates threats, fortifying your security posture.

The Benefits Of HPE Aruba Networking SSE

This cloud-based platform provides robust and unified network security through zero-trust access. This minimizes potential attack points and shields your network from modern threats. Administrators benefit from enhanced control and visibility into your IT infrastructure, allowing them to prevent data leaks and unauthorized software usage.

Furthermore, intelligent global routing and centralized management ensure a smooth user experience when accessing applications and data. This translates to increased productivity and effortless scalability to keep pace with your growing business.

A Look At EdgeConnect Secure SD-WAN

The EdgeConnect SD-WAN platform is designed for cloud-first enterprises, providing a secure foundation for zero trust and SASE. It combines a first-class SD-WAN with a next-generation firewall, ensuring both advanced security and an unmatched quality of experience. Whether your applications reside in the cloud or on-premises, EdgeConnect delivers reliable connectivity and protection.

Its key features include:

• App Performance Enhancement: Utilizing SaaS and WAN optimization techniques, and path conditioning, to optimize application performance.
• Next-Generation Firewall: This offers end-to-end security, including deep packet inspection (DPI), intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), and role-based segmentation.
• Multi-Cloud Networking: EdgeConnect seamlessly integrates with multiple cloud providers (such as Azure and AWS) to support cloud-first organizations.
• Dynamic Routing: BGP and OSPF support ensure efficient traffic routing across the WAN.
• Visibility And Reporting: Gain insights into application and network performance.
• Automation And Zero-Touch Provisioning: Simplify deployment and management.
• Unified SASE: EdgeConnect operates within the framework of the SASE model. This means it intelligently directs traffic to the cloud, eliminating the need for unnecessary backhauling of data. By strategically processing information at the edge of the network, EdgeConnect offers a more efficient and secure approach to cloud connectivity.
• Branch Network Consolidation: Replace branch firewalls and routers, streamlining network and security functions.
• Quality Of Experience: Prioritize mission-critical applications, including high-quality voice and video over broadband.
• Secure IoT Segmentation: Implement zero-trust network segmentation for IoT devices, going beyond SASE-defined boundaries.
• Integration with Multiple SSE Vendors: Tight integration with various cloud-security vendors

EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform combines robust security, performance optimization, and cloud integration to empower modern enterprises.

An Overview On HPE Aruba Networking Central NetConductor and ClearPass

HPE Aruba Networking offers sophisticated AI-powered client identification and profiling through Client Insights, a feature built directly into HPE Aruba Networking Central. This eliminates the need for additional physical collectors or VM-based agents typically required by competitor solutions.

Client Insights delivers highly accurate AI/ML profiling, reaching . This enhanced visibility empowers customers to experience immediate IT efficiency gains. Automated policy enforcement based on these insights further streamlines network management. Additionally, Client Insights’ always-on AI/ML behavioral monitoring provides superior protection against security breaches.

Client Insights within HPE Aruba Networking Central NetConductor and ClearPass offer a cost-effective and user-friendly solution for comprehensive network visibility, automated policy enforcement, and enhanced security through AI-powered client identification and profiling.

Additionally, HPE Aruba Networking Central offers the following components as well for organizations:

• Cloud Authentication

As HPE Aruba Networking’s built-in cloud-based NAC solution within HPE Aruba Networking Central, Cloud Auth assigns roles to users and devices for secure network access. This ensures only authorized users and devices can connect, with clearly defined access privileges. Cloud Auth integrates with common identity stores (like Google Workspace and Azure AD) for seamless user and device identification and authentication. It also simplifies management with time-saving workflows for policy configuration and user onboarding with Multi Pre-Shared Keys (MPSK).

• HPE Aruba Networking Central NetConductor

HPE Aruba Networking Central NetConductor automates tasks like configuration and policy enforcement across geographically dispersed networks, simplifying management of wired, wireless, and WAN infrastructure. This streamlines setup, optimizes performance, and enforces granular access controls – the foundation of secure network architectures.

Final Thoughts

The digital landscape has fostered exponential business growth through widespread cloud adoption. While moving to the cloud creates new security challenges, SASE offers a comprehensive solution to consolidating critical network and security functionalities into a single, cloud-based platform. This streamlined approach simplifies security management while ensuring reliable data protection across all locations within your organization.

WEI’s cloud security specialists can guide you through securing your cloud environment. We combine our expertise with personalized security assessments and custom-built SASE solutions, featuring advanced technologies like HPE Aruba Networking. This empowers your business to confidently navigate your digital transformation while protecting your critical assets. Contact us today to get started.

Next steps: The acceleration of migrating applications to the cloud in addition to leveraging cheaper and flexible internet alternatives such as 5G/LTE connections drove the need for SD-WAN technology. Greater visibility and better security tools are needed to ensure the zero-trust network environment that companies desire. Additionally, hybrid networks have evolved far beyond the basic composition of a public cloud and on-prem environment. Today’s SD-WAN solutions must accommodate multiple clouds in a dynamic fashion.

WEI’s free tech brief identifies the three main components of Aruba Network’s powerful EdgeConnect Enterprise platform:

• Physical or Virtual SD-WAN Appliance
• Aruba Orchestrator
• Aruba Boost

to access your free copy of the tech brief, SD-WAN: 3 Components To Efficiently Connect Users To Applications.

The post Unified SASE: A Secure And Streamlined Path To Digital Transformation appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

In the modern healthcare ecosystem, data plays a critical role. From storing patient records and managing finances to facilitating research and developing treatment plans, this information forms the lifeblood of the industry. It goes beyond the common data pulls for medical histories and financial details, as it also encompasses vital research findings, drug trial results, and personalized treatment plans – all essential for individual well-being and scientific advancement. However, this treasure trove attracts attackers, threatening patient privacy and trust, hindering care, and compromising the entire healthcare system.

What can healthcare organizations do? We’ll delve into the modern challenges they face, and solutions they can take to build a more secure healthcare landscape.

Challenges In Healthcare

Healthcare institutions face an uphill battle: balancing cutting-edge technology with robust cybersecurity measures. In recent years, there have been on these organizations due to these common challenges:

1. The use of outdated VPNs. This fails to adequately protect user and patient information against ransomware, phishing, malware, and other cyber threats.
2. Relying on a patchwork of cybersecurity solutions and vendors, both on-premises and off-site. This leads to high operational costs, antiquated operations, lagging detection and response, and unnecessary complexity.
3. Maintaining a high level of cyber resiliency across different environments, such as on-site and work-from-anywhere setups. Simplifying the structure is crucial for compliance and reducing the overall attack surface. While clinical staff may be working on-site, many non-clinical staff are still working remotely, and often within departments executing critical data flows.

Fortifying the healthcare system’s digital defenses requires a multi-pronged approach involving the adoption of reliable software solutions and updates, paired with comprehensive staff education. By safeguarding patient privacy and enabling the uninterrupted delivery of high-quality care, cybersecurity is not merely an option – it’s an essential investment.

Key Impacts Of SASE

Traditional security approaches struggle to keep pace with the evolving healthcare landscape. Enter Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), a revolutionary solution promising a paradigm shift in safeguarding sensitive medical data. We’ve identified five key aspects of SASE and their impact on healthcare security. Let’s explore:

1. Unified Security Approach: SASE unifies network and security in the cloud to streamline and scale management and boost healthcare IT security. Sticking with old methods leaves organizations exposed, making SASE’s holistic and modern approach crucial for healthcare.
2. Zero Trust Principles: Healthcare institutions can minimize insider threats and boost security by adopting Zero Trust, a model rejecting inherent trust and emphasizing constant verification and monitoring. This is a topic we’ve covered plenty in recent time, and this practice is only growing more prevalent across all industries.
3. Cloud-Native Security: Cloud-native security scales dynamically, protecting healthcare data as volumes soar. This flexible approach safeguards sensitive information through the power of cloud technology.
4. Endpoint Security: In the face of devastating breaches, robust antivirus and frequent updates are vital to fortify devices against cyberattacks.
5. AI-Driven Threat Detection: AI-powered threat detection analyzes data in real-time as well as forecasts actions for future threats. This helps spot anomalies and respond to security threats as they emerge.

In the realm of , SASE addresses various challenges in the industry by providing secure access and high-performance connectivity to users in various locations. However, many SASE solutions fail to provide consistent cybersecurity or seamlessly integrate with existing network and security tools.

Considering Universal SASE In The Healthcare Sector?

Universal SASE provides consistent cybersecurity and optimal experiences, safeguarding all users, devices, and edges, including microbranches. Built on a single-vendor approach like Fortinet’s , it offers a comprehensive solution by integrating SD-WAN with cloud-delivered security services. This approach ensures optimal and secure connectivity for all.

FortiSASE employs a distinctive secure networking approach driven by a singular operating system known as FortiOS. Augmented by , this strategy enables Fortinet to seamlessly integrate security and networking with the following functionalities:

• Streamlined Management: Simplify both networking and cybersecurity policy administration through a consolidated agent, enhancing operational efficiency.
• Consistent And Flexible Security Everywhere: Fortinet solutions ensure consistent security for both on-site and remote users, minimizing security vulnerabilities and simplifying configuration tasks. Fortinet Secure SD-WAN enables organizations to secure and transform their on-premises WAN while extending security into the cloud with FortiSASE.
• Real-Time Threat Protection: and FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services provide immediate defense against cyber threats.
• User-Friendly Licensing: Fortinet offers straightforward user-based licensing and user-friendly management and monitoring tools.
• Unified Endpoint Protection: Leveraging FortiClient, FortiSASE delivers all cybersecurity services, safeguarding endpoints and providing remote access, telemetry, and visibility within the Fortinet Security Fabric.
• Secure Private Access: FortiSASE offers secure private access capabilities that seamlessly integrate with SD-WAN networks, utilizing intelligent steering and dynamic routing to ensure optimal access to corporate applications.
• Secure Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Access: Addressing the challenges of shadow IT and data exfiltration, FortiSASE provides secure SaaS access with a dual-mode CASB, offering both inline and API-based support. It delivers comprehensive visibility by identifying critical SaaS applications and identifying risky ones, thus mitigating shadow IT risks.
• Enhanced User Experience: Through SD-WAN, organizations can enhance application experience, connectivity, and operational efficiency, ultimately improving user satisfaction.

Final Thoughts

Healthcare organizations need secure and reliable network access, especially with distributed teams and cloud-based applications. FortiSASE offers a high-performance, scalable, and globally-spanning cloud network with a single-vendor SASE approach. This means broad coverage, easy scalability, and streamlined operations, freeing your healthcare teams to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional patient care.

WEI’s team of experts is ready to support you and your organization in your cybersecurity and business goals. Contact us to get started.

Next steps: Managing and securing data, applications, and systems has become more arduous and time-consuming with the rise of cloud adoption and the expansion of the digital attack surface. To help remedy this, FortiAnalyzer offers a powerful log management, analytics, and reporting platform that features a single console to manage, orchestrate, and respond. Download our free tech brief below to read.

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Businesses face the constant challenge of fortifying their defenses to maintain resilience, productivity, and uninterrupted operations. This is especially important given the world’s increased data breach events, server outages, and the growing volume of data and users accessing their systems.

Striking a balance between keeping servers in top condition and managing costs is an ongoing struggle for most organizations. Additionally, IT infrastructure needs to be fast enough to detect and neutralize threats before further damage is caused. How can organizations ensure their server equipment consistently performs at peak level? This article examines solutions that may help support your business’s IT and cybersecurity goals.

Servers Are Working Double Time

Servers are under increased pressure due to evolving cybersecurity threats. Key challenges include:

1. Vulnerability to malware attacks and compromised data integrity/accessibility. Cybercriminals exploit human trust to steal sensitive information through methods like phishing and baiting.
2. Some attackers compromise software components during development or distribution.
3. Advanced persistent threats (APTs) are stealthy, targeted attacks coordinated by well-funded adversaries. They persistently sneak into networks and intercept server communication, typically aimed at conducting espionage or stealing data.
4. Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks constantly overwhelm servers, thus rendering them inaccessible to legitimate users.
5. Security teams are always on high alert due to threats powered by artificial intelligence (AI), as well as security risks related to the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing. This is particularly challenging when their infrastructure is outdated and lacks adequate monitoring and automated mitigation capabilities.

Organizations must adopt a proactive, layered approach to safeguard their servers and data. 

Invest In Robust IT Infrastructure For Optimal Performance

Imagine a scenario where vulnerabilities are embedded within the very infrastructure powering your business. Data breaches and APTs cripple operations, erode customer trust, and inflict significant financial damage. This is a harsh reality for many organizations relying on servers with inadequate security measures. More than ever, investing in a strong cybersecurity infrastructure is essential to achieve an organization’s security goals. Dell understands the challenges of modern IT teams and they answer the call to introduce more secure platforms. With the advanced features offered by the 16^th Generation (16G) PowerEdge servers, you are assured of optimal server performance and security tailor-fit for your business requirements.

Let’s explore four ways PowerEdge servers can fortify an organization’s defenses.

1. Built-in Security

Dell’s 16G PowerEdge servers address cybersecurity challenges head-on with the (DSDLC). This comprehensive approach integrates security throughout the entire development process, from initial design to ongoing monitoring.

The benefits for enterprises include:

• Proactive Vulnerability Mitigation: DSDLC identifies and addresses vulnerabilities early in the development process through threat modeling and adhering to secure coding and vulnerability testing practices.
• Rapid Threat Response: The DSDLC framework enables swift responses to emerging threats. Dell’s security experts continuously monitor the threat landscape to ensure timely patches and updates.
• Compliance Advantage: The process aligns with industry standards, providing a solid foundation for compliance.

2. Hardware-Enforced Security

Beyond secure development, PowerEdge servers boast a range of hardware-based security features at the supply chain level that provide a strong foundation for your overall security posture. These features include:

• Silicon Root of Trust (RoT): This hardware technology establishes a hardware-based foundation for Zero Trust, which is also applied in their supply chain process. RoT uses cryptography to verify that a computer’s firmware is genuine before it even starts up. This prevents hackers from tampering with the system and drastically reduces their potential targets.
• Secure Boot: PowerEdge servers leverage to ensure only authorized firmware is loaded during the boot process. This safeguards against unauthorized modifications and malicious code injection.
• Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0: An integrated security chip is embedded in each server to store encryption keys and perform secure authentication tasks.

These hardware-backed security features work together seamlessly to create a more robust and trustworthy server environment.

3. Automated Security Management

Manual security configurations are time-consuming and prone to human error. PowerEdge servers address this concern with the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC), a management tool that streamlines workflows to minimize errors.

iDRAC allows you to:

• Automate firmware updates.
• Centralize security policies across your entire PowerEdge server fleet.
• Monitor system health and identify potential security threats in real time. iDRAC provides comprehensive system logs and alerts, allowing you to proactively address security concerns.

iDRAC empowers IT teams to focus on higher-level security strategies while reducing the risk of human error in security configurations.

4. Flexible Security Solutions

PowerEdge servers offer a wide range of security options including software integrations and features that are tailored to specific workloads. For example, virtualized environments benefit from for improved isolation. This flexibility allows you to develop a thorough security strategy that correlates with your organization’s needs and the threats it is defending against.

Final Thoughts

Dell 16G PowerEdge servers offer a compelling value proposition for security-conscious enterprises. These servers combine advanced technology, automation, and flexible security to help strengthen your cyber resilience, empower your IT team, and stay ahead of evolving threats.

Well-versed in server solutions, WEI is dedicated to helping your organization strengthen its cybersecurity posture by investing in advanced solutions such as Dell PowerEdge servers. Contact us as our team of experts is committed to empowering your organization to confidently navigate the digital landscape.

Next Steps: As a longtime partner, WEI knows that Dell Technologies follows an intrinsic approach to cybersecurity. Security is integrated, not bolted-on after the fact, and it is integrated into every step of Dell PowerEdge. Learn how Dell PowerEdge servers follow this strategy and mindset in this short video.

The post Four Ways Dell’s 16G PowerEdge Servers Boost Cyber Resiliency For The Enterprise appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Just as you rely on business-critical applications every day in the workplace, those same applications rely on a network that is available, scalable, and secure. But if an enterprise’s network architecture falls on the traditional side, this can complicate matters with the utilization of middleboxes like firewalls, load balancers, and tunnels for packet forwarding. This complexity comes with a high cost, hindering the deployment of new applications and creating challenges for intensive workloads like supporting video or connecting a widespread mobile workforce.

Many legacy networks lack the capability to operate on this session-based model, resulting in suboptimal networking. Despite efforts to secure networks, security breaches and cyberattacks persist, with predicted annual costs reaching . The traditional setup exposes businesses to sophisticated cyberattacks, incurring unacceptably high downtime costs. Fortunately, a solution is available to address both workloads and security issues in the enterprise network.

Addressing Network Performance With Session Smart Networking

Juniper Networks’ provides session-level intelligence and security to the network. This solution, built on an application-aware and zero-trust secure network fabric, meets enterprise requirements for performance, security, and availability.

, when integrated into an SD-WAN solution, enhances collaboration between the network and supported applications. It also connects users to exceptional experiences by dynamically charting waypoints across the network. This process constructs a streamlined and secure application-centric fabric, facilitating a comprehensive understanding of source users, network segments, and destination applications.

Utilizing AI To Boost Network Security

AI is a major topic worldwide, whether you are an IT professional or not. And with cybersecurity initiatives full steam ahead for many of the customers we serve, the convergence of these two areas is inevitable as next-gen security requires AI. The Juniper AI-Driven SD-WAN solution prioritizes security throughout the entire SD-WAN fabric to minimize exposure to evolving threats. This involves:

• Service-Centric Control Plane: Combine a service-centric control plane with a session-aware data plane to provide IP routing, policy management, client-to-cloud visibility, and proactive analytics.
• Zero Trust Models: These models offer the advanced design of the Session Smart Router, replacing the traditional routing plane with security principles at the core.
• Session Understanding: The Session Smart Router processes sessions – dedicated links between services, applications, users, and devices.
• Service-Centric Operation: Operating in a service-centric manner, Juniper models services for specific applications, granting access based on shared policies and validated templates.
• Granular Security Control: This intelligence enables granular security controls, assigning policies, QoS parameters, and access controls on a per-service, per-network basis.

Juniper’s AI-Driven SD-WAN not only addresses evolving threats, but also revolutionizes network security by integrating it seamlessly into the core of the network infrastructure.

Components Of Juniper Networks’ Zero Trust Model

Session Smart Networking relies on Zero Trust Security (ZTS) to ensure no packet is above suspicion. Juniper’s service-centric fabrics transition from legacy perimeter-based security to a zero-trust model incorporates the following components:

1. Zero Trust Routing Fabric: This session-oriented approach assumes no trust for users, traffic sources, or connected networks, regardless of location on the network. The Session Smart Router is deployed to establish zero trust and service-centric fabrics, where routes are transformed into directional firewall rules using a deny-all routing model. All routes and sessions undergo authentication, and session traffic is dynamically encrypted end-to-end.
2. Application-Centric Hypersegmentation: This feature categorizes user groups and devices into fine-grained per-service access policies using a global network data model. Hypersegmentation operates independently of overlay networks. This leverages the existing network infrastructure across public/private network boundaries, broadcast domains, and administrative boundaries.
3. Native Session Stateful Security Functions: The Session Smart Router simplifies branch and data center security architectures by natively supporting session L2-L7 stateful firewall functions, including NAT, encryption, VPN, and traffic filtering. The Advanced Security Pack enhances security with intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS) and URL filtering.
4. Security Policy Automation and Scale: The solution centrally manages application-centric and user knowledge-based security policies, all expressed in the language of business. This results in automated and simplified network security policy management, reducing security operational expenses and overall risks associated with user error. The management system is scalable across thousands of sites.
5. Secure Edge Functionality: protects web, SaaS, and on-premises applications and is integrated with AI-Driven SD-WAN and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) functionality. Secure Edge connectors facilitate seamless integration with cloud-based security services such as Secure Edge, zScaler, and others.

Final Thoughts

In a world where cybersecurity threats are ever-present, Juniper’s Session Smart Router and AI-Driven SD-WAN sets a new standard for enterprise networking. The future of networking is not just about connectivity; it’s about building a secure, intelligent, and resilient foundation that empowers businesses to thrive in the digital era.

Contact our experts at WEI to learn more about Juniper Networks’ Session Smart Networking and AI-driven SD-WAN.

Next steps: This white paper by WEI identifies how Juniper Networks’ location-based networking helps higher education institutes overcome complex technology challenges. Readers will better identify:

• Concerns of higher education IT professionals
• Why network infrastructure is a differentiator
• Challenge of improving remote experiences
• Value of a virtual network assistant

The post Boost Security And Performance with Juniper Networks’ Session Smart Router appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

The era of digital transformation has completely changed the way we work, with remote work and cloud-based applications becoming the new normal. No longer are users and applications confined to physical data centers in office spaces. This traditional setup has given way to a new landscape of hybrid workforces, home offices, and geographically-dispersed headquarters. While these changes have improved digital flexibility, they have also brought new and obvious challenges to network security.

To address this challenge, a modern solution called Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) integrates networking and security in the cloud to provide comprehensive and flexible protection for both users and data. In this article, we explore the benefits of SASE and how it can set IT leaders up for future-ready business operations.

A Modern Approach To Secure Cloud-Based Networking

In today’s landscape, data and applications are spread out across data centers and the cloud, making it crucial to ensure user security. SASE is a perfect solution that has the potential to transform how organizations protect their network infrastructure. It provides seamless, secure access to applications and data from anywhere without compromising on security or performance.

SASE ensures businesses securely connects users – regardless of their location – to critical applications and data. This cloud-based networking approach provides granular visibility of user access patterns and detects anomalies before malicious actors gain access. Moreover, SASE architecture offers scalability, relieving IT teams from managing multiple legacy systems and navigating outdated hardware concerns.

Why Your Organization Needs SASE

Fundamentally, SASE converges SD-WAN, cloud-based security, analytics, and insights into a single, cloud-based solution, delivered as a service, to provide optimal, secure connectivity from every user and device to every cloud. Traditional solutions are typically limited to individual devices or networks. With SASE, businesses unify devices, locations, users, and endpoints within one single platform. This reduces complexity, strengthens scalability, and cuts down on costs associated with maintaining multiple solutions.

Here are some of the benefits SASE can offer your enterprise:

1. Enhanced visibility into user behavior patterns: Implementing SASE enhances visibility by monitoring and analyzing user behavior within your systems, applications, and data. These details inform decisions to optimize processes and tailor services to each user.
2. Robust protection against cyber threats: SASE’s advanced machine learning (ML) algorithms quickly monitor network traffic, data transmissions, and user activities in real time. It also detects potential incidents like malware infections, data breaches, or unauthorized access attempts and automatically takes corrective actions, such as isolating compromised devices or blocking suspicious activities. This approach ensures the security and integrity of your business operations.
3. Improved scalability and organizational efficiency: SASE consolidates authentication, authorization, and encryption functions into a unified platform, thereby simplifying deployment and management and increasing productivity. Additionally, SASE’s cloud-native architecture enables organizations to seamlessly scale, adapt to changing workloads, accommodate growing user traffic, and expand operations without sacrificing performance or security.
4. Protection from unauthenticated users: SASE enhances the overall data security posture of your business by combining multiple authentication methods (such as multi-factor authentication and biometrics) to verify user identities, thereby preventing unauthorized access, data breaches, and insider threats.
5. Mitigated external threats during a malicious event: With its ML capabilities, SASE enhances the overall protection of your business operations by employing secure access controls, network segmentation, micro-segmentation, and traffic inspection techniques. These features enable organizations to:
   1. • Detect and block suspicious activities.
      • Isolate all compromised devices.
      • Prevent lateral movement within the network.
      • Safeguard your business from external threats.

Cisco’s Approach to Secure Hybrid Workforce

, , effectively addresses challenges by enabling secure connections among employees. Secure Connect integrates networking, security, and trusted connectivity within a cloud-managed platform to enhance operations and visibility without the upfront investment. This enables organizations to swiftly deploy the service and reap the benefits of SASE.

Final Thoughts

Workforces are leaning more and more hybrid. Organizations must prioritize the security of their users and data as the modern workforce becomes increasingly dispersed. Embracing SASE allows everyone to future-proof their networks and create an ideal, agile hybrid workforce.

To learn more about how SASE and Cisco+ Secure Connect can benefit your organization, reach out to one of our SASE specialists today.

Next Steps: Discover more about how your business can implement a meaningful SASE strategy by downloading our tech brief, .

The post SASE: The Solution To Building A Secure And Future-Ready Hybrid Workforce appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Do you trust your network? Performance may be in an optimal place, and workplace operations are thankful for that. But what about security? “Zero Trust” is a practice every IT leader and decision maker should be educated on as more and more organizations have realized that all attacks don’t originate from the other side of the firewall. Attacks can be launched from anywhere, including within the network itself. Network administrators must always operate under the assumption that their network has already been breached. And sadly, for some reading this article, that may be the case.

Security Starts With Visibility

Think of the visibility that security teams require from fans entering a major sports arena. Attendees must successfully pass through a security detector while large purses, handbags or backpacks are not permitted. Usually, only fully transparent bags are allowed in. These transparent bags give security teams greater visibility into what fans are bringing into the arena, and that greater visibility is necessary when a small/limited team of security personnel is responsible for ensuring the safety of tens of thousands of fans. It may seem like a small detail to the average event goer, but it is a major guideline for security teams to leverage.

Similarly, IT security and networking leaders who are responsible for safeguarding campus networks require greater visibility, too. At all times, they must know the identities of all connected devices and the types of workloads and traffic that are traversing the network. They need to know who is accessing what and if access privileges are being respected or abused. Ideally, what campus network teams need is a way to authenticate every client that requests a connection and to continuously compare its configuration and status to a defined set of acceptable security states to ensure it will not introduce vulnerabilities or participate in an attack. As a bonus, the solution could be provided by a single vendor so the tools could operate as a united front.

Here is the good news: Such a solution is already available within the HPE Aruba Networking Edge Services Platform (ESP) security solutions portfolio. Let’s explore.

Identity Is Critical

According to a survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute that involved a cross section of more than 2,000 IT professionals, 45% of respondents believe Zero Trust is a theoretical framework that cannot be implemented. Additionally, only 27% of respondents are confident or very confident in their ability to know all users and devices connected to their networks at all times. These two findings correlate with one another because Zero Trust is completely unobtainable if you don’t know the identity of all devices on your network. Without identity, there is no trust.

No Identity – no access.

And we aren’t just talking about BYOD laptops, tablets, and phones. This applies to cameras, sensors, medical equipment and other undetected IoT devices. Zero Trust means having the visibility to know the identity of every device requesting a connection. Not most devices – all devices.

HPE Aruba Networking ClearPass Device Insight

There have been 802.1X solutions on the market for some time now. These solutions only allow authorized devices to connect to the network. However, their implementation process is labor intensive and time consuming. That’s not the case with ClearPass Device Insight. This cloud application performs a wide range of Zero Trust architecture techniques as it discovers and profiles all devices connected to the network in automated fashion.

This solution allows network administrators to discover, monitor, and automatically classify new and existing devices that connect to a network, thus eliminating the costly guesswork of what a device is in a DHCP address list. ClearPass gives you granular visibility into the attributes of every device including its type, vendor, hardware version, and behavior. This collective information helps your team create granular access policies to control these devices and reduce risk exposure introduced to the network. Once a device’s identity is confirmed, it is then authenticated every time it connects to the network.

Additional Components Of Zero Trust Security

Visibility, identity, and authentication are only part of the Zero Trust security equation. Here’s some additional elements to factor in:

• Role-based Access Control (RBAC): Helps enforce the principle of least privilege so users are only granted the minimum level of access required to perform their duties. RBAC also allows organizations to segment their network and applications based on roles.
• Conditional Monitoring: Continuously evaluates the trustworthiness of users and devices based on factors such as user behavior and device profile. It also uses advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms to identify anomalies and deviations from normal behavior patterns. Anything abnormal is deemed a potential risk and treated as such.
• Enforcement and Response: Ensure that a detected anomaly or possible threat is acted upon and, if necessary, remediated before it has the chance to disrupt network and business operations.

Similar to ClearPass, the HPE Aruba Networking ESP solution suite provides components that achieve all these capabilities in a single packaged solution. The ESP solution suite includes:

• Client Insights
• ClearPass
• Dynamic Segmentation
• Policy Enforcement Firewall
• Central NetConductor
• 360 Security Exchange

Final Thoughts

Zero Trust security is not a theoretical framework or exercise. It is an achievable state that every campus network should strive for because it can, thanks to HPE Aruba Networking and its potent lineup of Zero Trust security solutions. Talk to a WEI Zero Trust security specialist to learn more.

Next Steps: Just about every business we talk with has long-term remote workforce initiatives, and security has become a larger focal point of each conversation because devices are no longer protected by the traditional enterprise perimeter. Don’t leave security to chance with your remote workforce. See how HPE Aruba Networking is solving the challenge with Remote Access Points, and find out just how easy their RAPs are to implement and manage in our tech brief below.

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IT professionals understand the significance of a secure IT infrastructure, and one of WEI’s longtime partners continues doing their part to help clients with cybersecurity. Dell’s implement a seven-pillar approach to cyber resiliency, meeting the U.S. Department of Defense standards for Zero Trust. This ensures thorough verification of every aspect of your IT environment, providing cyber resiliency and safeguarding data against malicious attacks, offering peace of mind for not only your IT team, but the entire organization it supports.

What Is A Zero Trust Approach?

The Zero Trust model enables, well, a zero trust strategy to boost cyber resiliency. It is a more effective approach that presumes all network activity both inside and outside the company to be suspect, thus requiring verification. This represents a significant shift away from traditional security models that focused on the perimeter of the network and access within its walls.

A Seven-Pillar Approach To Cyber Resiliency

To ensure enterprises are cyber-secure with Zero Trust, Dell and Intel have integrated a seven-pillar cyber resiliency approach to their PowerEdge servers.

1. Device Security

This step requires securing all network access devices, including laptops, smartphones, and servers. The PowerEdge server lineup is equipped with silicon-based hardware secured component verification (SCV) Fndthat has cryptographically signed inventory and certificates to ensure secure self-verification. This guarantees hardware integrity during transit to your business’s data center.

2. User Trust

The second pillar provides IT administrators with a secure way to deploy, update, and monitor servers using the (iDRAC). iDRAC also offers multiple security enhancements, such as multi-factor authentication using , integration with Active Directory and LDAP for single sign-on (SSO), and role-based access control and auditing.

3. Transport And Session Trust

The PowerEdge (iDRAC) comes with a dedicated network module and options for SSH/TLS encryption and authentication of data between servers and iDRAC web user interface. iDRAC then facilitates remote management and monitors critical events using onboard sensors; when parameters go beyond their limits, the system sends alerts and log events in the dashboard.

4. Software Trust

Each server prioritizes software trust through proactive validation and security testing across the software lifecycle to minimize malware and coding vulnerabilities. The end-to-end verified boot ensures only authorized code runs on PowerEdge servers, while other features such as drift detection, secure UEFI boot capabilities and recovery for BIOS and operating systems.

5. Data Trust

Dell PowerEdge servers utilize self-encrypting drives for hardware-based encryption, central key management and protection against unauthorized access to lost or stolen systems. Each server can be combined with various technologies such as VMware vSANTM encryption on VxRail which can be added to provide adequate data protection. Heightened protection is also achieved through the integration of data-at-rest encryption, Intel’s and , and scalable key management.

6. Visibility And Analytics

Dell and Intel recognize the importance of data-based decision making and a system health assessment for your organization. This is why PowerEdge servers are ideal for IT professionals who desire real-time insights on firmware health through firmware drift detection, including unauthorized changes. Any detected changes allow the system to revert to a known secure state, while automated logging and alerts track change events for auditing and analysis.

7. Automation And Orchestration

Offering a comprehensive solution to businesses, Dell PowerEdge servers are equipped with , an application for managing and monitoring servers. This platform offers a holistic view of servers, storage, and other parts to fix misconfigurations for consistent security.

Final Thoughts

Automated security checks and continuous server monitoring offer additional protection against advanced threats to organizations. Dell’s PowerEdge servers are an ideal choice for businesses due to their scalability, which allows them to adapt to changing demands.

If your organization’s goal is cyber resiliency, WEI provides assistance and advice through the implementation of Dell PowerEdge servers. By working together with Dell, WEI provides businesses peace of mind knowing they have the most powerful and scalable security tools available to secure their IT infrastructure. Get in touch if you are ready to prioritize cyber resiliency.

Next Steps: Discover more about refreshing your servers and enhancing digital transformation by downloading our Dell tech brief, .

The post A Solution To Cyber Resiliency: Dell PowerEdge Servers appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

How many accounts do you log in to every day that require a password? Chances are there are quite a few with banking, health portals, shopping, email, and gaming among the common account types. As more enterprises move forward with their digital transformation efforts, password use will only increase. With the shift to a digital presence, customers, vendors, and employees will eventually need unique account credentials to access the information they require – adding yet another password they must memorize.

Unfortunately, people are creatures of habit and tend to reuse the same passwords for multiple accounts. This can mean important information that needs to be protected is potentially at risk of exposure if an account using the same credentials is hacked. If one falls, they all fall so to speak.

As more enterprises move to a decentralized environment working remotely, it is critical to ensure that the right people securely access the information they need without putting your organization at risk. is critical.

So, what is the answer? It may sound ironic, but it has to do with eliminating passwords altogether and moving toward passwordless authentication to access data.

Secure Passwordless Authentication Is The Future

When it comes to multi-factor authentication, passwords are the weak link in account access security. Tech leaders have realized this, and many have started ditching passwords altogether in favor of simplified methods that provide greater protection. Here are three reasons why passwordless authentication is the future.

1. Better user experience: Passwordless authentication saves users from the frustration of having to remember yet another account’s details and consequently being locked out.
2. Saves time and money: When users are not required to recall another password, your IT team is not bogged down on Help Desk tickets asking for assistance accessing or retrieving account information.
3. Stronger security: When your system no longer relies on the human vulnerability of passwords, you eliminate related threats, including phishing, stolen or weak passwords, password reuse, brute-force attacks, etc.

Cisco Paves The Passwordless Path

Passwordless authentication is a key building block to enabling zero-trust security for the modern workforce, allowing for better agility and productivity within your enterprise. Passwordless authentication improves the workforce’s experience while strengthening trust in authentication – a critical step in establishing a zero-trust architecture.

With a combination of user and device trust driven by adaptive policies, you can rest assured that the right people are able to access the information they need without sacrificing security. Each user connected to a service is authenticated, and the device is authorized against a policy, regardless of where the request comes from.

is leading the charge toward a passwordless authentication future through dynamic multi-factor authentication. It sets identity as the parameter for secure access. To make this a possibility, Cisco is:

• Building a passwordless authentication solution that is easy to implement and use.
• Partnering with hardware and software providers to provide best-in-class experiences regardless of a company’s infrastructure or technology stacks.
• Supporting FIDO2 security keys for major browsers.
• Having Duo experts in the WebAuthn Working Group, W3C, and FIDO Alliance to advocate for enterprise features.

Now is the time to prepare your enterprise for the passwordless authentication future. Lean on WEI’s extensive experience with Cisco security solutions to help you determine the best path forward to reaching a passwordless solution. Contact us today.

Next Steps: To learn more about agile network security solutions and services for your enterprise, download our Tech Brief,

The post Cisco Paves The Way To A Secure Passwordless Future appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

As enterprises look into the future of a post-pandemic environment, many CIOs recognize the need for a better strategy that supports a remote and hybrid workforce. While many switched to a work-from-home model as a response to the pandemic, of employees want to continue working from home permanently.

Until recently, the solution to secure enterprise networks has been the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) which function like a tunnel back to the company network. However, with the distributed nature of a remote workforce, VPNs possess limitations and security risks. So, what’s the better solution to secure your network and provide access to applications no matter where employees work from? That would be Zero-trust network access (ZTNA).

CIOs see the value of ZTNA to provide their enterprise with the security they need while supporting a modern workforce. ZTNA is the future of enterprise security. Within the next year, 60% of enterprises will phase out traditional VPNs and use a . To date, only 15% of organizations have completed a transition to a zero-trust security model. Let’s take a closer look at two different ZTNA models and why the future is bright for zero-trust network access.

Client-Initiated Or Endpoint-Initiated ZTNA

The first zero-trust network access model is known as endpoint-initiated ZTNA or a client-initiated ZTNA model. This model is software-defined and based on the Cloud Security Alliance architecture which uses an agent on a device to create a secure tunnel to the enterprise network. This agent performs an assessment to determine the security risk of a user’s request to access an application using information such as their identity, device location, network, and the application being used. After building a risk profile, the agent connects back to the application over a proxy connection, and if the information meets the organization’s policy, access to the application is granted. The beauty of this model is that applications can be on-premises or cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

While this model does provide greater security than VPNs, it comes with its own set of challenges. Managing the agents on devices can become a chore for your IT department unless a central management solution is able to coordinate deployment and configuration. Unmanaged devices need to be handled by other means, such as a network access controller (NAC).

The Service-Initiated Or Application-Initiated ZTNA Model

The service-initiated model uses a reverse proxy architecture based on the BeyondCorp model and is also known as application-initiated ZTNA. The biggest difference from client-initiated ZTNA is that this model does not require an endpoint agent. Instead, to create a secure tunnel and perform a risk assessment profile, it uses a browser plug-in.

Where the client-initiated ZTNA can be used for both on-premises and cloud applications, a key disadvantage to the service-initiated ZTNA is that it’s limited to cloud-based applications only. With the application’s protocols needing to be based on Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)/Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS), it limits the approach to web applications and protocols, such as Secure Shell (SSH) or Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) over HTTP. Because of this shortfall, at this time, the service-initiated ZTNA model is not the best option if your enterprise has a combination of hybrid cloud and on-premises applications.

The Future With ZTNA

The first step in implementing a complete zero-trust solution is addressing the need for secure remote access. ZTNA can be applied to remote users, home offices, and other locations by offering controlled remote access to applications that is easier and faster to initiate while providing a more granular set of security protections than traditional VPNs.

Establishing a zero-trust model across vendors can be difficult as components often run on different operating systems and use different consoles for management and configuration. By selecting integrated and automated tools, you can overcome the challenges of implementing ZTNA. Using a service-initiated model with an integrated firewall-based and SASE approach allows for ZTNA capabilities with a simplified management and application policy whether your users are on or off the network.

Fortinet ZTNA Solution Improves Your Enterprise Cybersecurity

With remote work here to stay, it is clear that a traditional VPN approach is no longer enough to provide your enterprise with adequate security. ZTNA solutions are a better way to secure access, no matter where your employees are, and improve controls around application access. To learn how can provide your enterprise cybersecurity strategy with the best ZTNA model, contact WEI today.

Next Steps: Download our executive brief, “.”

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