Global enterprises spend over $100 billion a year on cybersecurity, but multi-vector threats can still find a way to invade network infrastructures. IT teams need to protect numerous and varied entry points, including mobile devices, and new technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), virtualization, Wi-Fi hotspots and cloud applications.

At the same time, service providers need secure access to data centers, equipment and campus environments with near-zero network performance latencies. They must also gain visibility into encrypted traffic so they can safeguard their resources.

However, the most vital of these assets is packet data, which offers a shortcut to a comprehensive visibility-driven security program encompassing threat detection and precise investigative capabilities. IT teams can also add controls, flexibility and scalability by delivering the right packets to tools as needed. Throughout this process, they will improve recovery times and increase the return on investment for their cybersecurity budget. 

The current landscape

Network administrators are working hard to meet the continuous demands for higher bandwidth while delivering a superior user experience. To do so, they need to gather real-time insights, improve productivity, and stay within monetary constraints. That’s a tough balance to strike, especially given the increased number of vulnerabilities affecting safety, governance, and compliance.

Over 20 billion connected devices are in use worldwide, and cybercriminals are updating their strategies to fit this new environment. Attackers exploit faster internet speeds, next-generation tools, and bad actor hosting sites, to create a wide range of sophisticated attacks. These can include malware, spam services, encrypted attacks to exfiltrate data, potential beaconing and C2 (Command and Control) communications, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, and other malicious communications. They target networks and collect sensitive data from right under victims’ noses. With increased targeting of edge services, organizations must adopt a holistic approach to securing their entire distributed security visibility network to deliver the right packet data to their security systems. That begins with a comprehensive security visibility fabric architecture.

The most crucial preventive measure is rapidly addressing application performance issues through actionable insights. Operators can mitigate DDoS attacks at the edge quickly with automated solutions that protect packet data while minimizing risk. They should move storage workloads to the cloud as an extra layer of security.

IT teams who can’t see encrypted traffic face dangerous blind spots in their security, which could lead to financial losses, data breaches, and heaps of bad press. Because of this, it’s essential to protect networks and get smart visibility into these issues.

Regulatory bodies and organizations are shifting to the use of - and even mandating - ephemeral key encryption and forward secrecy (FS) to address the need for greater user security. The monitoring infrastructure will require companies to look at offloading Secure Socket Layer (SSL) decryption to allow tool capacity to keep up and to reduce latency by performing SSL decryption once and inspecting many times to scale the security infrastructure. Having a network packet broker in place to direct specific traffic to your SSL decryption appliance will allow for that decryption step. It will also enable the use of security service chaining to deliver the decrypted packet data to various security systems to maintain and monitor for optimal performance.

What the industry needs 

Many organizations don’t have the proper protective measures in place to fight attackers. They need to embed that capability into workflows because it allows for the rapid detection of issues within both physical and virtual infrastructures.

Enterprises are adopting emerging technologies to handle growing traffic volumes and network speeds. The increase in web applications and multimedia content has spurred a growing demand for simplified data center management, automation and cloud services. As a result, the packet broker market is flourishing with research predicting that the segment will be worth $849 million by 2023.

At the same time, network administrators must provide smart and flexible security solutions while reducing capital expenditures. IT teams can simplify these processes using distributed architecture. To do so, they need a cost-effective, scalable solution with no blind spots, which allows them to evolve packet data storage.

Operators and security administrators who base their actions on up-to-the-minute traffic reports can make decisions in real-time. Devices, applications and public and private clouds all aid in this mission by detecting threats throughout the network.

Why visibility is essential

Security is about controlling risk, and risk is defined by loss exposure. How can a business identify and manage risk? Companies need to be crystal clear on what they think about risk and have a thorough understanding of what they consider as assets. Having control is only possible with visibility into the network that provides access to those assets. Overcoming challenges and maximizing security requires a pervasive visibility layer that reduces downtime while increasing return on investment and enabling efficient operations.

The good news is enterprises are improving visibility as they analyze more information. IT departments need to follow suit by obtaining high-quality packet data and real-time insights. Tech teams can then protect systems from cyberattacks, provide reliable service assurance and comply with regulations.

Enterprises should monitor their infrastructure continuously so they can detect threats before they happen. In the process, they’ll make their systems more intelligent while allowing teams to get the packet data they need without having to sift through reams of information. Organizations that use innovative solutions like packet data to increase visibility will create flexible, scalable and cost-effective networks. They can then combat cyberattacks with ease and ensure that their networks are ready for all the technological advancements to come.

Today, managing network operations and service assurance, as well as handling the ever-increasing battle of having the right security posture, is a complicated endeavor. The growing complexity of networks, the business requirements for innovation and the rapid delivery of services and applications require a new approach to managing network infrastructure. Traditional network management approaches of multiple point products, manual change processes, monolithic policies and data silos no longer work. Business, risk, service and security assurance programs all need to be agile, efficient and anticipate future threats and remedies.