Companies often have enterprise networks that run on old codes, inviting cyberattacks. Many IT teams delay updating networking and security software for different reasons. Here, Abe Ankumah, VP of Product, VMware, discusses these reasons and how cloud security can help them.
Trading data on the dark web, hackers learn of vulnerable enterprise networks that run old codes and are successfully targeting and breaching themOpens a new window . These incidents could be prevented. IT teams know their codes should be updated, but usually delay it, exposing their networks to attack.Â
Why wait? Their rationale is simple: by updating their networking and security software, they may inadvertently “break somethingâ€Â within their network.
See More: Radically Enhancing SASE Orchestration through Consolidation and Automation
This fear of updating runs rampant across all companies, where never deploying the latest code is all too common. In fact, some enterprises delay months before deploying, spending significant money on testing codes before rolling them out to field devices. Â
It gets worse: There are typically no concrete compliance and governance audit procedures to enforce these updates.
What is the solution? Teams now lean on cloud solutions instead of on-premise software and appliances, enabling updates to be done at scale and executed by cloud security and networking solution vendors who specialize in this activity and maintain service-level agreements.Â
When leveraging a centralized cloud security service, teams simplify the upgrade process removing the complexity when a vulnerability is discovered and remediated effectively at scale.
From worries about breaking something to efficiency issues to leveraging complex systems, there are many reasons teams rely on cloud-based security. Here is a deeper dive into the day-to-day obstacles that IT teams face for performing upgrades and how cloud security helps hurdle them.
Understanding the Grind Behind Network Updates
Broken systems increase team workload
When a software manufacturer releases a new version, enterprise IT teams must decide when (or if) they will implement it. Here is the challenge: while the upgrade may have benefits, the organization may consider it too new and, therefore, too risky to implement. As they weigh the pros and cons of implementation, they live in constant fear the update will break something.
What happens if something breaks? Branches could go offline, and business continuity could be jeopardized, costing an enterprise millions of dollars. If it has 100 branches and its break is localized to a single branch, the cost of downtime is consolidated to that one branch. But what if the enterprise data center hub experiences connectivity issues? The company’s 100 branches would likewise face downtime, costing exponentially more. Either way, their IT team’s workload increases because they need to make the fix.Â
Configuration drift: the enemy of efficiencyÂ
Chaos reigns during configuration drift. This turns networks of devices into a mosh pit of countless different and unique snowflakes, where some but not all devices are updated, or updates are not comprehensively recorded, introducing serious security issues and increasing the potential attack surface for the bad guys.
Complexity is a killer
A security solution’s complexity is proportionate to the probability that gaps will form that are imperceptible to IT. Additionally, complexity requires teams to perform more maintenance, audit more devices, and spin more plates.
Manual upgrades fuel frustration
To perform an upgrade, many security vendors require teams to jump through hoops. This means teams must perform the work themselves, visiting the vendor’s site to download the update into their network manually. They will pursue that during their maintenance window — weekends or nights — preventing disruption as much as possible (while hopefully not breaking anything).Â
And if they run into issues, will the vendor support them? Yes, but they must sit on the phone with the vendor’s support technician, which consumes endless hours. And these support engineers are not speedsters; they must methodically examine each case and perform a process of elimination just to determine an issue’s root cause.
Vulnerability to hackers
IT may not want to deploy a code until it is a certain age or until it has undergone a certain amount of preliminary testing and quality assurance before it is deployed to the branches to ensure it does not break any of their apps. While Fortune 50 enterprises typically invest in test infrastructureOpens a new window , smaller companies may not and thus delay implementation and leave their networks vulnerable, a leading cause why they get hacked.Â
Expensive truck-rolls remote locations
IT teams must consistently update every individual enterprise device. Does that require staff to visit each site to perform the upgrade physically? It should not, but it can because sometimes things go wrong during the update process. Consequently, IT teams can incur costly travel bills or pay to keep more staff than they need at remote sites.
Performing Upgrades Easily With Cloud Security
As more people work from anywhere, they use Internet connections that are not controlled by their companies. To support these employees, IT teams require a solution that is simple to manage, delivers robust security, and optimizes network traffic.
Cloud security plays a key role in defining a company’s security posture, helping IT teams by simplifying the delivery of security as a service while eliminating IT’s fear of upgrades.
How does cloud security reduce complexity? By moving security to a cloud vendor, it proves infinitely easier for teams to audit, maintain, and manage upgrades from a governance compliance standpoint. This is especially true if they have 100 or more devices that need simultaneous updating, ensuring they are all standardized and safeguarded from hackers.
How does this look? The vendor removes the need for teams to execute manual upgrades and eliminates worries about breaking anything. Instead, it performs updates, distributing them through its point-of-presence architecture, automatically upgrading enterprise networks while radically reducing team workloads. Thus, the vendor manages and maintains all updates with triage teams available to resolve any issues immediately.
But it is not enough to have an established cloud security solution. If it stalls employees’ productivity, then that creates a problem. Secure access service edge (SASE) overcomes that hurdle, combining cloud security with cloud-delivered SD-WAN, which helps network traffic reach its intended destination by providing optimized paths.
See More: How to Get SD-WAN Security Right?
IT teams dread the upgrade process, fearing upgrades may break something, create extra work, and slash efficiency. Not upgrading delivers a worse effect, exposing enterprises to hackers. But by harnessing the power of cloud security, teams can effectively push “the easy button,†increasing their productivity by empowering cloud vendors to perform upgrades.
How has cloud security helped you strengthen your networks? Let us know on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .
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