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Wired, wireless and network security: the continuity trifecta

All businesses need SDN, virtualisation, collaboration, WiFi, BYOD, IOT and cloud... but don't forget the network.


Johannesburg, 06 Nov 2018
Matt Ashman, chief commercial officer, KHIPU Networks.
Matt Ashman, chief commercial officer, KHIPU Networks.

For an organisation to perform optimally, its wired and wireless networks should function properly and be supported by a robust cyber security solution. However, many businesses don't get these basics right, resulting in business continuity issues that arise from network failures and cyber attacks.

So says Matt Ashman, chief commercial officer of KHIPU Networks, who adds that an organisation's underlying networks must be reliable, resilient, fast and secure.

"Organisations are adopting new applications to improve working, they're increasingly supporting BYOD and they're showing interest in systems like IOT and automation to increase efficiencies. All this adds more 'stuff', data, and traffic that the network needs to support. But, if the network isn't properly designed, installed, and supported, it will soon slow down and hamper the user experience, not to mention expose the organisation to risk."

Ashman speaks about the trifecta of organisational continuity, which includes the wired network, the wireless network, and cyber security. "By having these three as a single solution, we can address all problems around continuity."

Networking

By 2020, there will be 20.4 billion connected IOT devices, up from 8.4 billion in 2017.

"It's easy to connect a wearable, a printer, or CCTV camera to an organisation's network. But, unless all these endpoints are properly secured and managed, each one provides a potential entry point for attackers," says Ashman. "If the network isn't scalable and resilient, and we keep putting all this stuff onto it, we're going to run into problems."

Organisations can no longer approach network management with a drop-box solution, although Ashman says this is common in South African organisations. "When it comes to networking, managed services is the way to go, especially for organisations that don't have the skills and resources to do it themselves. Yet many local organisations struggle to find a partner with the right level of expertise to ensure the networks they're designing are resilient, high-performance, scalable, and protected against cyber attacks."

Managed service providers should not only design organisation-specific, future-proof networks, but should also be able to advise on best practices for organisational continuity.

"When designing networks, the managed service partner, as an extension of the internal IT team, must ensure that there's continuity of services at all times and factor in the organisation's own environment. Networks must be able to support multiple devices, more applications, be able to scale to meet future demand, and have the right level of protection to maintain continuity in the event of a cyber threat or breach," says Ashman.

The latter is becoming more complicated, and more crucial.

Cyber security

The threat landscape is constantly changing, says Ashman, and one of the biggest threats to organisations today is phishing attacks.

A phishing attack occurs when cyber criminals send an e-mail pretending to be from a senior executive in an organisation. Usually, they'll ask the recipient to transfer money to an external account and, because the e-mail appears legitimate, the recipient obliges.

Phishing attacks have increased by 65% in the past year, and a report from Intel found that a shocking 97% of people are unable to identify a phishing e-mail.

"In one instance, the recipient made three transfers to an external account before someone questioned the transactions. By then, it was too late. The money was gone," says Ashman.

This makes cyber security awareness training critical, he adds, and should be an integral part of the cyber security solution. "People are an organisation's first and last line of defence. You can have the most resilient network, but if someone doesn't know how to spot a phishing e-mail, all it takes is one click on a link and they'll be sharing information with an external party."

Back to basics

Network management has become complicated, which makes getting the basics right more important than ever.

"Networks should be designed to cover the basics and have the right level of protection to maintain business operations in the event of an attack. In South Africa, there are additional considerations, like lightening and surge protection," says Ashman.

"As the complexity of network management and security grows, it makes business sense to partner with a managed service provider that can handle the day-to-day running of the network. This ensures that, if an issue does occur, there's someone who can help resolve the problem while the business continues to focus on more strategic work."

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