Tackling main network security challenges
Top executives gathered at an exclusive Cybertech Global TLV event powered by Aruba on protecting data in the new cloud-driven industry
C-level executives gathered on the second day of Cyebrtech Global TLV for an exclusive brainstorming discussion powered by Aruba, which specializes in Network-as-a-Service solutions.
Aruba’s Channel Manager, Omri Shaibi, kicked off the session – titled “The Road to the Cloud: How to Tackle the main network security challenges?” – with a brief review of the major change of the past couple of years. “Our data has moved, and also – our employees are no longer (physically) at the organization.
“We were used to data being in data centers, but we now know that 75% of data is created and processed outside the traditional data center or cloud,” said Shaibi. “Almost everything today is IoT. According to the IDC, 55 billion devices will be connected worldwide by 2022
“IoT is amazing for business development, but also quite a security challenge. However, before we even address connectivity and how safe it is – we must first understand what is connected to the network.”
Ruby Cohen, Aruba’s Networking PreSales Manager discussed how the company has been serving the data in the cloud. “The right way to provide services isn’t just installing the devices, but also providing consuming solutions,” he said, explaining Aruba’s Edge Service Platform (ESP) architecture.
“The first stage of Network-as-a-Service is network. We want to give the remote worker the same experience as if they were in the office,” Cohen went further. “ We also provide Edge-to-Cloud, and on top of that – we want to do analytics based on locations, protocols etc. In short, the three layers are: connect, protect, analyze & act.”
What are the challenges? According to Cohen, the main ones are the distributed edge, moving to cloud services, corporate WAN not being the optimal route to the cloud, and the fact that the majority of IoT devices cannot run any security agent.
“CISOs ask two questions: ‘How can I assure network security in a corporate environment?’ and ‘How can I provide secure access to services outside of corporate environment?’” said Cohen, discussing Aruba’s advanced Zero Trust solutions, as well as its centralized orchestration of security policies for LAN/WiFi/SDWAN.
Next to speak was B.G. (res) Asaf Kochan, Former Commander of Unit 8200, who discussed the concept of data-centric security.
“Cloud is a phenomenal platform for data-driven businesses. The ability to enjoy terrific storage in a very low price, compute at an unprecedented level, the elasticity and accessibility, services on the cloud platform…this is amazing, and it’s pretty clear that entities that don’t move there quickly will stay behind,” said Kochan. “One of the major catalysts of moving into the cloud is the angle of defending and securing data.”
Kochan said he met with numerous executives and asked them whether they knew where their data was located. “Surprisingly enough, the answer was no. This happen when there is a rapid technological change. In reality, most organizations just spill information into the cloud and don’t really know where it is.” Most executives also replied “no” to a follow-up question, on whether they knew where their sensitive data was located.
“The data-centric security approach starts from the data and expands,” said Kochan, elaborating on the follow up steps:
1. Discover shadow data and build a data asset inventory.
2. Classify the most sensitive and critical data.
3. Prioritize data security according to business impact.
4. Continuously monitor data access and user activity, and make all employees accountable for their data – this is not only the security team’s problem.
Following a few questions from the audience, this special event ended with a panel of leading industry experts. Moderated by Shaibi, participants were Amir Cohen, VP of Marketing and Business Development at Gilat Telecom; Itzik Menashe, VP of IT and Information Security at Telit; and Eran Schwartz, CTO and CISO at Orian.