Software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) has become common across companies as workplaces grow more mobile and flexible. While SD-WAN has significant advantages for businesses, it also raises new security threats. Let’s look at how to set up robust security for SD-WAN, its main problems, and the best practices for reinforcing SD-WAN security.
Achieving smooth network scalability is critical for every business today. That’s why companies turn their heads to SD-WAN, which offers a secure, adaptable, and scalable network architecture. The secure networking technology comes with a slew of benefits that make it appealing to organizations but at the cost of some inescapable concerns that should be addressed at the grassroots level. But regardless of how many issues it causes, this fast-emerging networking technology has left no stone unturned in its quest to become a competitive differentiator between firms that use SD-WAN and those stuck with an outdated network. In a nutshell, SD-WAN is now a need for sustainability.Â
While SD-WAN is vital for seamless networking in a hybrid environment, implementing it correctly may help organizations avoid the most obvious security threats. The following are some of the security issues that SD-WAN might face, as well as the best strategies for dealing with them.
See More: SD WAN vs. SASE: Five Tips to Choose the Right Networking Tech for Your Organization
Enabling a Security Driven Approach for SD-WAN
If you are shifting to SD-WAN, making sure it’s secure should be the first priority. Let’s start with the pitfalls of this software-defined WAN before we look at ways to mitigate them.
SD-WAN challenges
Peter Lowe, principal security researcher, DNSFilter, says that the basic feature of SD-WAN is a flexible network architecture that’s better distributed among its components, allowing for the ability to optimize in different ways. “However, because it’s a new way of architecting networking, it brings new challenges, a new way of thinking, and managing resources.†The challenges include:
- Security
WAN services are typically used by companies operating on less secure internet connections, putting their networks in danger of being hacked. As a result, while deploying SD-WAN, an additional layer of security must be introduced to protect data even at remote sites. Since SD-WAN solutions do not come with built-in security, every traffic must be routed through a comprehensive security stack for assessment and risk mitigation before being allowed to go to its goal.Â
- Vendor selection
Considering the amount of functionality offered by different manufacturers, finding the right SD-WAN provider is time-consuming and challenging. The usefulness and intricacy of each provider vary, placing the IT team in a bind.
- Cost reduction
Many firms are embracing SD-WAN because they want to save money. The cost savings and advantages of SD-WAN, on the other hand, might be difficult to measure compared to the capital investment required to implement it. Several solution providers help businesses save money by offering SD-WAN as a service with an opex model.
- Management
Traditionally, businesses had to pick how their corporate wide area network (WAN) would be managed. They used to do everything in-house and outsource infrastructure deployment and maintenance to a vendor that does it all or splits the work. Despite offering substantial benefits, SD-WAN poses serious management issues. Its systems are challenging to manage and upgrade since they can be built on various infrastructure platforms and involve tools from several vendors.
Lowe thinks SD-WAN is not a silver bullet. The network security basics are still necessary. Also, managing costs and risks might seem complicated at first.
Best practices to mitigate security risks in SD-WAN
Don’t ignore the “WANâ€
IT executives want to provide safe, optimized access to their customers while operating in a hybrid work environment. They need to consider security and networking together, notes Gur Shatz, co-founder, president, and COO of Cato Networks. “This necessitates a strategy that meets more than just a few PoPs or data centers that focus solely on security convergence while ignoring the WAN.â€
If IT has to offer excellent access control, threat prevention, and application experience to all resources anytime from everywhere, the PoPs must be able to conduct resource-intensive security processing for internet and WAN traffic and get linked via a global optimized backbone, he says.
See More: The Past, Present and Future of SD-WAN
Defining needs as a “single solutionâ€Â
Michael Wood, CMO, Versa, outlines the best practice for a secure SD-WAN. He points out that “evaluation and implementation†include defining the requirements as a single solution and forcing vendors to respond with their best-integrated model. “This shifts the reduction of complexity into the product design and not onto the IT team. It also inherently establishes a tighter integration across the security capabilities and networking functions.â€
Carefully adjust “monitoring and metricsâ€
Lowe thinks that adjusting monitoring and metrics is one key area that should be touched on continuously. Look carefully at what’s being measured. “Taking a holistic view can reveal benefits that might not be clear with the traditional way of thinking.†Detailed planning and “adjusting monitoring and metrics†to measure the right thing are necessary. “Don’t attempt to entirely replace a traditional architecture all at once, and think about how to manage multiple vendors together – look at contract renewals and the varying risk levels across the board,†he adds.
Implement “secure†SD-WAN solutions
SD-WAN is a networking solution that routes traffic between its endpoints via numerous channels in the most effective way possible. On the other hand, it lacks an in-built security feature as well as access control abilities.
Wood insists on the option to implement secure SD-WAN services either on-premises or via the cloud, or as a combination of both. Each branch site and teleworker will have differing requirements and footprints based on size, function, and location.Â
There are several benefits IT professionals can realize for their business by implementing SD-WAN with comprehensive security, better known as a Secure SD-WAN. “The first is including security features like NGFW, IPS, and UTM which are tightly integrated with the networking and SD-WAN technology.†Ideally, this integration is within a single software image, including a single-pass architecture that does not duplicate services (such as decryption and packet inspection), applies consistent policies, and is managed via a single pane of glass. Wood further adds, “The design, configuration, and ongoing support of the implementation can be done by one or multiple individuals, who may originally be from either a security or networking background if the management tool is easy to use.â€
Go for a cloud-agnostic strategy
According to Kelly Ahuja, CEO of Versa Networks, the fast emergence of cloud and Secure SD-WAN has ushered in an era when on-demand services are accessible and operational simplicity is table stakes. “Cloud-intelligent, dynamic multi-path connectivity and robust security are required when branch and corporate offices link to different clouds.â€
“In order to integrate the required security functions across various clouds, the WAN infrastructure must be an enabler for cloud access without using excessive bandwidth.â€
Digital transformation projects to link various clouds, according to Ahuja, must be extended uniformly to all branch sites. “In order to ensure consistency in security, policy, and networking across various clouds and SaaS services, 2022 will focus on developing a cloud-agnostic approach that will dramatically enhance application intent across different clouds and SaaS services.â€
Seek out SASE based solutions
Wood mentions another approach to maintaining security hygiene for SD-WAN. “Seek out solutions with SASE (secure access services edge) capabilities integrated into the cloud and on-premises.†He adds that if you are not using these services today, you will be using them soon. “Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), and other services are among them. He warns that if SASE is not already integrated, adding it later becomes an architectural nightmare and results in unnecessary costs and awkward integration.
Key takeaways
Before we get started on adopting the best practices, let’s have a look at some of the advantages companies can reap once the problems have been overcome by applying the aforementioned principles:
- Comprehensive security is achieved.
- SD-WAN brings the promise that organizations can deploy faster, cheaper, and safer environments than traditional approaches.
- It decentralizes traditional expensive pain points while allowing standardized security mechanisms to be put in place.Â
Not all SD-WAN solutions are created equal. This is why there has been significant consolidation in the market, with many of the 80+ SD-WAN solutions no longer being available today, says Wood. Providing an enterprise-class SD-WAN solution is difficult and making it simple and easy to consume is just as hard. What has become even more obvious is that SD-WAN must be deployed in conjunction with comprehensive security features to be useful. “In fact, Secure SD-WAN is what is really necessary to deliver a genuinely secure implementation that has assured integration of both networking and security to mitigate security threats and proactively address vulnerabilities. The two go hand in glove,†concludes Wood.
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