Issue 10 2019

CORPORATE VISION / Issue 10 2019 29 7 Myths About Network Management and Security in a Digital World servers, steal data, or redirect traffic to malicious sites. DNS is a top attack pathway for several reasons. First, it plays a unique role in connectivity. Every device, every virtual machine relies on DNS to connect to your network. In addition, the open nature of the protocol makes it a ripe tar- get. Lastly, and most importantly, conventional network security measures such as firewalls and intrusion protection systems do not understand DNS. As a consequence, cybercriminals exploit DNS specifically to infect devices, propagate malware, and exfiltrate data because they know it’s vulnerable. And their DNS-based tactics are evolving at breakneck speed. Myth 5: Organisations should hold off on IoT initiatives until security improves Reality: You can safely deploy IoT in many scenarios by shoring up DNS defences A chief pathway for attacks against IoT devices is, you guessed it, DNS. IoT increases DNS-based attack surfaces by orders of magnitude. For example, as more and more data is exchanged through smart grids, the more damage security breaches can cause. The pros- pect of hackers gaining entry to connected systems prevents many companies from launching game changing IoT deployments in the near term. By securing DNS, however, companies can move forward with many IoT scenarios right now. Myth 6: Security teams have enough information to priori- tise security issues effectively Reality: Security teams are so inundated with information that they don’t know which threats to act on first and why Even the best-equipped security teams struggle to identify genu- ine threats in the gushing torrent of threat data coursing through their systems. Without knowing which threats are most urgent and can cause the most damage, security personnel waste valua- ble time and resources chasing down the wrong issues. In addi- tion, most IT departments rely on a collection of point solutions and management tools for security. These systems are poorly inte- grated and can’t provide visibility into distributed network assets. They also often involve a high degree of manual processing, which further slows threat identifi- cation and remediation. Myth 7: Organisations can automatically track the acti- vation and compliance of new devices Reality: Organisations lack a comprehensive view of newly activated devices It’s tempting to believe that con- ventional network management systems can keep you informed when new devices join your net- work. After all, that information is vital to effective network manage- ment. Regrettably, getting that in- formation is increasingly challeng- ing for most organisations. The reason why is the same as with many other aspects of network administration— disparate tools and disjointed data siloes hinder the ability to track new devices and ensure their compliance. The task is becoming even more daunting as the number of con- nected devices continues to soar, a trend that will escalate many fold as the Internet of Things ramps into high gear. The bottom line is that organisations have no efficient way of knowing when new devices are added and if they meet the latest standards. When you lack a comprehensive view and contextual information about devices, your network remains vulnerable to security risks, unplanned outages, traffic spikes, and slow performance.