Page 26 - Cyber Warnings

Robust Security Platform = Policy Management + Authentication

+ Authorization + Accounting

Navigating the landscape of enterprise security can be daunting – the threats typically fly under
the radar, and the broad array of malware, hacks and data theft shows real innovation. Worse,
the level of malicious sophistication is also on the upswing. In tandem, corporate users enjoy
communicating, computing and transacting business on a variety of wired and wireless
networks – using multiple devices. And the threat vectors continue to grow, exponentially.
Consequently, IT departments are turning to policy management platforms that give them
visibility into who and what is connecting to their networks, with ways to measure and predict.
They seek security management that is both adaptive to how people now work and is easily
customized. And they want a management interface that accommodates wireless and remote
users, as well as emerging technologies and services like cloud computing and the Internet of
Things (IoT).

This is much more than ticking off boxes on a spec sheet – CISOs, CSOs and security
professionals are demanding a fully integrated, multi-vendor approach for security management.
Consequently, today's management platforms have to deliver a number of critical features
including authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) services, which control access to
networks and servers, automated workflows for BYOD and guest access, as well as providing
audit and bill-back information, which are essential.

The platform must also be agile and sophisticated enough to embrace new levels of
enforcement mechanisms for security in a mobile world. Today's security platforms must
embrace authentication and enforcement models for wired networking; public wireless
connectivity; and users who tunnel in via IP-based virtual private networks (VPNs) to be
effective.

Security-conscious enterprises now require enforcement policies that utilize real-time contextual
data to grant network privileges. In parallel, policy management platforms must support end-
device profiling that identifies device types and respective attributes that connect to networks.
And real-time troubleshooting tools are valuable as they solve connectivity and other end-user
issues quickly. Enterprises have tried to achieve many of those objectives with siloed security
products, but they are finding it more useful to reduce complexity – the number of management
consoles – and the ability to use multiple solutions if they can automatically leverage contextual
information between.

What this means is that there there is room for third-party products like mobile device
management (MDM) and enterprise mobility management (EMM), firewalls and security
information and event management tools. But the primary management platform must be used
to coordinate defenses where everything works as a coordinated solution.

26 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – July 2016 Edition
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