The Internet of Things (IoT) is sometimes called the Internet of Threats, and for good reason. IoT devices, employee- and customer-owned, are proliferating exponentially across the enterprise, with Gartner expecting to see 25 billion Internet-connected things in use by 2020.
IoT devices are also notoriously difficult to secure, creating an attractive target for attackers looking to enlist them into botnets like Mirai; or use them as a soft entry point for attack.
At the same time, enterprise network boundaries continue to blur as mobile, cloud, IoT and third-party applications become the norm, not the exception. With so many different devices and applications crossing from the data center to the cloud to remote offices and customer sites, ensuring sensitive data and network traffic stays secure is a Herculean task at best. Is your old-school firewall up to the task?
Traditional Security No Match For Non-Traditional Network Perimeter
Chances are, you’re using a hodgepodge of traditional security tools to secure what is fast becoming an ever-changing, non-traditional perimeter.
Some monitor application traffic with web application firewalls (WAFs). Others monitor cross-network traffic with next-generation firewalls (NGFWs). You may also use a smaller, unified threat management (UTM) firewall to simplify and segment things off internally. Your platform probably also includes a mix of IDS/IPS, anti-malware sandboxes, endpoint protection and antivirus solutions in the hopes that threats that evade one tool will be caught by another.
Unfortunately, none of these tools can be configured, deployed and managed in the same way; nor can they communicate and collaborate with one another effectively. IT is left trying to battle conflicting alerts to uncover true indicators of compromise amid all the noise, slowing attack identification and overall response. In the end, many organizations actually become less secure as the network grows more complex and business-critical.
A Modern, Next-Generation Approach
A better approach is to stop relying on firewalls and a mix of other point solutions, and instead, adopt a holistic defense strategy in which all security – firewalls included – collaborate and communicate in real time. This is exactly what our partner Fortinet enables with its enterprise firewall and security fabric. With Fortinet, enterprises can deploy:
- The right defense at the right time: Fortinet’s security fabric enables all network and security tools to communicate and collaborate, so security policies to be consistently applied and enforced no matter where or when a user or device connects — whether within a single network segment, via a mobile VPN or through the cloud. And since IT manages policy from one unified central console, the right policies get applied at the right time, all the time.
- The right firewall for the right mission. Since all firewalls can share security policies and effectively communicate/collaborate, enterprises can place firewalls wherever the best perimeter is, be it at the data center where high-performance is key, the cloud or even at the individual device level using Fortinet internal segmentation firewall technology. Policy conflicts become a thing of the past, while traffic flows efficiently and securely.
A Fortinet partner, CCSI can deliver the advantages of a modern, collaborative security platform with best-in-class next-generation security technology, including the Fortinet enterprise firewall.
