Page 176 - Cyber Defense eMagazine Annual RSA Edition for 2024

Cyberattacks are one of the primary causes of prolonged network downtime, which can corrupt data,
tarnish a brand’s reputation, and rack up costs in lost revenue and recovery fees. Interestingly, the
severity and duration of a network outage are usually because a company’s management and data share
the same plane, forcing network engineers to use the data plane to access network equipment in what’s
known as in-band management.

In-band management is inexpensive and relatively simple to use – however, it is not secure. With in-band
management, data and control commands travel across the same network route. As a result, the
management plane possesses the same security vulnerabilities as the data plane. Likewise, user traffic
gets mixed with management traffic and more lenient access rules.

Should a bad actor penetrate a business that manages its network equipment via in-band management,
the subsequent outage may lock network engineers out of the management plane, making
communication with devices and repairs impossible. Not only will user data become compromised, but
the very integrity of the network equipment will be in jeopardy. Instead of relying on in-band management,
businesses should use out-of-band management, which allows one to run management traffic through a
stand-alone network.

Building a Robust Network with Out-of-Band Management

Through out-of-band management, companies have secure access to critical network resources, even if
the primary network is down from a cyberattack. In particular, out-of-band management provides an
alternative means of connecting to remote equipment, like routers, switches, and servers, via the
management plane rather than directly accessing a device’s production IP address in the data plane.

Out-of-band management creates an always-on independent management plane. This separate path
from the production network permits administrators to securely monitor, access, and manage IT
infrastructure and devices without disrupting normal operations or using data plane-level access for the
management plane. Moreover, out-of-band management separates user and management traffic, which
enables engineers to restrict access to the management plane in the event of a breach caused by a
cyberattack.

Ultimately, out-of-band management helps companies build a more robust network capable of recovering
quickly in the face of outages induced by cyberattacks, thus minimizing the consequences of downtime.
Should the primary network go down, engineers will always have a reliable means of accessing critical
IT infrastructure and troubleshooting issues.

The Advantage of Accessing Network Infrastructure Remotely

Another key benefit of industry-leading out-of-band management solutions is that engineers can restore
the network remotely. During most network outages, businesses with dispersed offices, data centers,
branches, kiosks, etc., need to send technicians on-site to remediate issues, which can be time-
consuming – not to mention inefficient. The best-in-class out-of-band management solutions act as a

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