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Why Unified Platforms Are the Future of Network Security

BrandPost
Oct 18, 20223 mins
Data and Information Security

It’s never been more important to centralize and unify the security of network environments, users, and devices. Unified security not only improves visibility and insight but, it also enables knowledge sharing across normally disparate security layers, improves security posture, reduces time to detection and remediation, and enables the adoption of zero-trust models.

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Credit: iStock

Today’s complex cybersecurity landscape regularly exposes the weaknesses of disconnected security solutions. In breach after breach, we see attackers taking advantage of gaps and vulnerabilities in legacy systems and devices, underscoring the reality that a pieced-together security infrastructure is woefully inadequate for stopping modern, sophisticated threats.

The lack of visibility and fragmented oversight across poorly integrated systems limits insights and compromises security across all environments. With network attacks booming, endpoints under duress from ransomware, and massive amounts of malware hiding in encrypted traffic, it’s never been more important to centralize and unify the security of network environments, users, and devices.

So, what does this mean for CISOs and CSOs? How are security decision makers supposed to address this constant barrage of attacks specifically designed to target gaps in their security? One approach is to adopt a unified security platform. Unified security not only improves visibility and insight but also enables knowledge sharing across normally disparate security layers, improves security posture, reduces time to detection and remediation, and enables the adoption of zero-trust models.         

So, let’s dive a bit further into the key elements of an effective unified platform.

  • Clarity and control: A unified platform should offer centralized security policy management, threat remediation, visibility, and reporting to streamline and simplify security administration. This gives security and IT teams a single pane of glass view for end-to-end security management of their whole security stack.
  • Comprehensive security: A complete portfolio of security products and services should include network, Wi-Fi, multi-factor authentication, and endpoint security that can break the Cyber Kill Chain at each level. This layered approach to security can more effectively protect and stop the attempted discovery and exploitation of vulnerable systems, phishing, ransomware, intrusions, and advanced malware attacks across all users, environments, and devices.
  • Shared knowledge: No matter how advanced the tech, deploying security layers in isolation risks that an attacker will slip through the cracks. A unified approach needs to offer a fully integrated platform for adopting a zero-trust, identity-based security posture. It should include an XDR layer for detecting, correlating, and prioritizing advanced threats for remediation, and it should also include a zero-trust layer with flexible rules to configure users and devices based on risk.
  • Operational alignment: With direct API access, out-of-the-box integrations, and support for all payment and consumption models, an effective unified security platform will successfully streamline business operations for resource-strapped IT teams, ultimately offering stronger security, easier deployments and better interoperability in IT environments.
  • Automation: Lastly, having business and security automation built into these layers will further simplify every aspect of security consumption, delivery, and management. A solution that can operate in near autonomy will deliver the highest resilience to cyberattacks while minimizing wasted IT time, speeding up processes, killing more threats, and empowering IT teams to do more in less time.

In so many of the recent headline-grabbing cybersecurity attacks, the victims (regardless of size) possessed a stack of security solutions that failed due to security gaps caused by the complexity of their environment. A unified approach that encompasses each of the key factors above defeats complexity by bringing normally disconnected layers of security together to improve efficacy and encompass the entire attack surface. With a unified approach, decisionmakers can close the gaps that make them more vulnerable and dramatically increase the ability of their organization to fend off attackers.

Learn more about the benefits of a Unified Security Platform.