By: Adil Baghir, Technology Consultant Lead, Middle East & Africa at A10 Networks

In a world where everything and everyone is connected to the internet, in one way or another, it’s hard to imagine a network that is truly secure. Data, large amounts of it, are at the centre of it all. With industries from healthcare to the education sector to the government using the internet to provide easy access to data, it is no wonder that cybersecurity teams are always working around the clock to try and come up with better ways of defending these networks and the data they store.

Insider Threats – Need for Security to Evolve from “Castle and Moat” Approach

Modern cyberattacks are not limited to just network intrusion from the outside. Internal threat actors can often be found at the centre of sophisticated attacks.

Initially, we had the concept of zones, perimeters and network segments – placing all the protected assets “inside” the secured network perimeter. However, attackers are always evolving the methods they use; always on the lookout for weak points in your network defences; and coming up with newer ways of infiltrating the perimeter. Keeping up with them is a challenging and ongoing struggle. We also need to realize that the “castle and moat” approach to our network defences was mostly effective against threats that resided outside the network. But what about the threats on the inside? What about modern attacks that work on multiple levels to try to bring your networks down? How do we protect our networks from people who have legitimate access to all its resources? How do we battle the ever-growing and ever-evolving modern cyberattacks? Add to these questions, regulations like GDPR, and the rising fines, and you will see that having your networks attacked and data breached is one of the worst things that can happen to your company. With these issues as the backdrop, we are forced to re-assess and re-think the way we defend our networks, users and data.

Zero Trust Model – a Modern Cybersecurity Approach

Zero Trust attempts to fix the problems, and patch the holes, in our cybersecurity strategies. At the core of it, the Zero Trust model is based on the principal of “trust nobody.” The Zero Trust model dictates that no one in your network should be trusted completely, that access should be restricted as much as possible, and that trust should be seen as yet another vulnerability that can put your network at risk.

Some of the precepts of the Zero Trust model are:

• Networks need to be redesigned in a way that east-west traffic and access can be restricted.
• Incident detection and response should be facilitated and improved using comprehensive analytics and automation solutions, as well as centralized management and visibility into the network, data, workloads, users and devices used.
• Access should be restricted as much as possible, limiting excessive privileges for all users.
• In multi-vendor networks, all solutions should integrate and work together seamlessly, enabling compliance and unified security. The solutions should also be easy to use so that additional complexity can be removed.

Danger of Security Blind Spots

In recent times, we have witnessed a phenomenal rise in the use of encryption across the internet. Google reports that over 90 percent of the traffic passing through its services is encrypted. The same is true for all the other vendors. This rise has been driven by many factors, including privacy concerns.

However, with encryption comes the creation of a “blind spot” in our network defences as most of the security devices we use are not designed to decrypt and inspect traffic. The Zero Trust model is not immune to this problem as visibility is considered as one of the key elements to its successful implementation. Without complete encrypted traffic visibility, the model will fail, introducing vulnerabilities that can be exploited by both insiders and hackers.

TLS/SSL Decryption – One of the Main Pillars of Zero Trust

A centralized and dedicated decryption solution must be placed at the centre of the Zero Trust model and should be included as one of the essential components your security strategy.

Many security vendors will make claims of the ability to decrypt their own traffic, working independently of a centralized decryption solution. However, this “distributed decryption” approach can introduce problems of its own, including inferior performance and network bottlenecks, and fixing these would require costly upgrades. In a multi-vendor, multidevice security infrastructure, the distributed decryption also forces you to deploy your private keys in multiple locations, creating an unnecessarily large threat surface in your network, which could be subject to exploitation.

Key features of a good TLS/ SSL Decryption Solution

It is important that a dedicated, centralized decryption solution provides full visibility to the enterprise security infrastructure for TLS/SSL traffic. Not only that, but the solution also needs to provide a multi-layered security approach, which then makes it the perfect candidate to be deployed at the centre of a Zero Trust network.

Below are some of the features to look out for when looking to implement a TLS/ SSL Decryption Solution:

• Full Traffic Visibility – It needs to enable the entire security infrastructure to inspect all traffic in clear-text, at fast speeds, ensuring that no encrypted attacks or data breaches can slip through
• Ease of Integration – It should be vendor agnostic and easily integrate with security devices already deployed within the network. This drives down additional costs and upgrades.
• Multi-Layered Security Services – These are additional security services, including URL filtering, application visibility and control, threat intelligence and threat investigation, that help strengthen the security efficacy of the entire enterprise network
• User Access Control – The product should be able to enforce authentication and authorization policies to restrict unneeded access, log access information and provide the ability to apply different security policies based on user and group IDs.
• Micro Segmentation – It should facilitate micro-segmentation through its ability to provide granular traffic control, user and group ID-based traffic control, and support for multi-tenancy
• Securing Cloud Access – SaaS security is an important feature which can be provided by enforcing tenant access control and visibility into user activities.

In conclusion, without a centralized and dedicated TLS/SSL decryption solution, the Zero Trust model is unable to do what it was designed to do – protect our networks, users and data from threats residing inside and outside the network.

During this stressful and desperate times, it is important to keep homes and communities safe and away from potential crime but neighbourhood watch schemes are not as reliable as a 24-hour home security system such as a eufy security camera that can help us keep a close eye on all activity indoors and outdoors.

With job losses and uncertainty, cases of “Anxiety” amongst families makes it difficult to keep a 24/7 eye on intruders, children alone at home or elderly parents who live remotely.

Because of this, Eufy Security Smart Cameras and Video doorbells have a unique feature “Motion activity alerts” that can be set up by defining the designated zone to get alerts on human detection, suspicious activity and when someone is entering or leaving your private space.

This is supported by functional features like two-way communication, alarm function to alert the neighborhood in case there is stranger near your house and a wide-angle coverage.

The Instant Mobile Alerts allows you to speak directly to anyone who approaches your home giving you complete control over your surveillance and meets the growing demand in smart home products and security solutions. You can save footage to local storage with no monthly charges.

The eufyCam2 is a wireless Home Security Camera System with 365-Day Battery Life on one charge and comes with features that include HD 1080p for clear crystal footage, IP67 Weatherproof that withstands all elements, state of the art Advanced Night Vision and is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Homekit.

It has a 2-Cam Kit and does not bind users to a monthly fee which means a one-time purchase that combines security with convenience. Eufy Security products store, process, and calculate user data locally using military grade encryption. For privacy reasons, videos are stored locally but accessible anytime, anywhere, via a secure AES 256 encryption by logging into your account.

An additional security gadget to compliment the eufyCam2 is the Eufy doorbell which can be installed near the front door and is triggered by motion detection with users receiving a smartphone alert when the motion is recorded and the video is viewable instantly allowing for a two-way communication.

The Smart Image Enhancement feature gives a clearer, brighter view of the people in-shot while the built-in AI technology identifies and focuses on the human in the image.

As the eufy motto is “Smart Home Simplified”, it brings easy-to-use smart home devices that are designed to secure your property and family and helps reduce crime.

By Jonathan Nguyen-Duy, Vice President, Global Field CISO Team, Fortinet

The hyper-connected, global marketplace of the 21^st century has shifted the landscape for networking and security. Two prevalent trends in this area—cloud adoption and the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT)—are seemingly two different components of digital transformation, with separate purposes and scope. However, they actually work together, fueling one another in the digital ecosystem. This symbiotic relationship has important implications when it comes to deploying, using, and securing cloud services and the IoT.   

As the number of IoT devices grows, so does the amount of data that they generate. This is in addition to the massive stores of data that are already being amassed by businesses, governments, and even individuals – data that must be collected, processed, mined, and stored. Take, for example, the use of sensors in warehouses where inventory can be tracked. This technology provides managers with essential data on purchasing trends so they are better equipped to manage inventory, especially on fast-selling items. Similar devices in retail locations provide information not just about inventory, but everything from temperatures in refrigeration units to customer purchasing trends.

IoT sensors installed on manufacturing equipment provide production managers with critical information. Environmental data from these sensors signal evidence of wear and tear on expensive equipment, alerting managers about maintenance before that equipment fails and costs the organization millions of dollars in lost productivity. 

As a result of these and other use cases, organizations are finding that in order to keep up with the massive amounts of data they are amassing, they need to act fast and build out their data management resources. For many, this comes in the form of a standard, two-pronged solution: easily scalable cloud data centers and high-performing infrastructures developed to support data mining for critical information. 

An Increased Digital Footprint Results in Increased Risk

One of the top challenges associated with IoT adoption is security. Botnets are the most common IoT cyber threat, causing Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks like the notorious Mirai, which infected tens of thousands of IoT devices before causing massive disruption. 

When compromised, IoT devices may do the following:  

1. Intercept data being transmitted  
2. Act as a vehicle for malware
3. Fall under control of a botnet to carry out a specific, disruptive task such as DDoS

According to research conducted by the team at FortiGuard Labs, IoT devices were involved in half of the top 12 exploits last year. This is due primarily to the fact that most IoT devices are designed with fault code, no built-in security measures, and an inability to be updated even when network managers identify a vulnerability. 

IoT and the Cloud: A Uniquely Challenging Combination

Every IoT device is potentially another cloud connection, and every connection to the network represents yet another security vulnerability. So, what does this mean for your organization? As you develop new IoT assets and move to the cloud, your security strategies for both need to be in sync with one another. When an IoT device is compromised, your public and private clouds are at risk, and this can eventually affect your core network and even your customers. 

How to Secure IoT and Cloud Connections

There are six key considerations when it comes to securing IoT and cloud environments:

1. Robust vulnerability management. Understanding what is on your network and the potential threats they pose is critical. Keeping track of your IoT devices ensures they can be updated with security patches (where possible), properly segmented and isolated, or protected using effective proximity controls that can offer defense in the case of an attack. 
2. Compensating controls. By implementing proper controls, security teams can mitigate risks posed by those devices that can’t be updated. Proximity devices, including firewall and IPS systems, should be leveraged to ensure the inspection of data moving between IoT devices and the cloud. Additionally, behavior-based detection can be used to identify traffic discrepancies, such as the communication between botnet command and control centers.
3. Encryption. This practice should be leveraged where possible to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data. 
4. Hardened security at the cloud edge. Not all IoT environments are secure, so hardening the cloud network is essential. In addition to other mitigation efforts, avoiding DDoS attacks and malware is also a matter of inspecting traffic at the cloud edge.
5. Integration and automation. The policies that govern security tools and the collection of security event data need to exist within the same management platform. This will ensure event correlation, consistent functionalities, reliable configuration delivery, and the orchestration and enforcement of policies all through a single pane of glass.
6. Security plus performance. Security platforms must be consistently reliable, no matter the environment in which they are deployed. Regardless of whether they are deployed as a virtual instance or a physical appliance, they must be able to process large amounts of data without slowing down the collection and processing of critical data.

Final Thoughts

To maximize the benefits of digital transformation, organizations must employ effective security strategies for IoT devices and the cloud. A unified strategy that addresses both the cloud and IoT using advanced threat intelligence and automation is vital. This will secure critical connections moving forward and set your organization up for success in the modern marketplace.