Published 9 January 2018

Let us introduce you to our partner Cyxtera Technologies

Let us introduce you to our partner Cyxtera Technologies

Infozone have several unique business partners and this to create solid and good solutions for our customers. For a long time, we have collaborated with Cryptzone that became a part of Cyxtera, 2017. Let us introduce you more to the IT security company, Cyxtera and the possibilities it brings your business.

Today, Cyxtera is led by Manuel Medina and the management team that was amongst the first to create the term “cloud infrastructure” through Terremark. A company that later on was sold to Verizon. The ownership structure of Cyxtera consists of a consortium between two private equity companies; American Medina Capital and British BC Partners.

Corporate IT has never been more diversified, distributed and dynamic. With a hybrid infrastructure that extends from local data centers, “colo´s”, private clouds to public clouds Despite all advances within network infrastructure, security products have basically remained unchanged and lacked creativity; they have been static and not dynamic. Bound by perimeters in a world without borders. We need a new way of thinking in regards of security. We need solutions designed for today; Custom, Elastic, Integrated and Intelligent.

WHAT IS A SOFTWARE DEFINED PEREMITER (SDP)?

Based on work performed by the United States Department of Defense, the software-defined perimeter is a security framework designed to deliver secure network segmentation as requested. SDP is a network security model that dynamically creates one-to-one network connections between the user and the resources he accesses. Everything else is invisible, including the system itself.

This ensures that all clients that tries to access a particular infrastructure are authenticated and authorized before they can access any resources on the network. All unauthorized network resources are made unavailable. This applies not only to the principle of least privilege on the network, it also reduces the attack area by hiding network resources from unauthorized users or users that are not authenticated. The SDP model has gained momentum within the security industry. Industry analysts uses this new approach because of its ability to increase security, automate control and simplify their work.

  • According to Gartner, SDP makes it possible for organizations to provide human centric, manageable, secure and smooth access to network infrastructure. It is easier and cheaper to distribute than firewalls, VPN concentrators and other built-in technologies.
  • Cloud Security Alliance says that the SDP security model has shown it possibility to stop all types of network attacks, including DDos, Man-in-the-Middle, Server Query (OWASP10) and Advanced Persistent Threat.

 

When business today becomes aware of that traditional network security does not deliver, they have to consider a SDP solution. The SDP solution does not only protect the local data centers, but also equally important cloud-based IaaS environments such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. The SDP model also works well over diversified and hybrid environments.

Please let us at Infozone help you with managing your security with the help of SDP from Cyxtera. If you want to learn more regarding Cyxtera, we will further on in this post talk about Appgate SDP.

Last fall at The Inspiration Zone in Stockholm we could listen to Andy Lalaguna, Cyxtera talk more about Appgate that we have summarized here for you:

 

APPGATE

If you have worked for a long time in the IT industry, there is a possibility that you might have managed or been a part of an environment where you or members of the IT/ Development Group have implemented a “jump box” to access protected information.

A “jump box” is a system that works as a bridge between two networks. It gives a method of controlled access from one network to another that contains protected information. Generally, “jump boxes” are very controlled and monitored by a SOC and demands an approval to access. All the traffic from the “jump box” is logged and recorded to make sure it follows your regulations.

Without Appgate SDP (Software Defined Peremiter):

  • Inflexible: Waiting for approvals and authorizations has always been difficult.
  • Lateral movement: When the jump box is open the users basically have free access to everything on the protected network.
  • Manuel process: Several times the jump box has to be open manually by one person, often a NOC or a SOC member.

There is a better solution! By using a SDP solution such as Cyxteras Appgate SDP you solve these problems easily.

With Appgate SDP you gain:

  • All users a driver/agent of Appgate SDP on their device (Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone IOS, Android) that connects you to a protected Appgate SDP controller. The Protected Appgate SDP controller, in turn, provides rights to the user for specifically authorized resources.
  • With Appgate SDP, your users only have access to the information that they are authorized to. Unlike many VPN or jump box solutions, Appgate SDP checks the specific resources a user can access on the protected network. This eliminates lateral movements (The user goes from resource to resource without any additional privileges).
  • Appgate SDP can also be configured to automate the authentication process, which eliminates the need for a person to do it. Appgate has a ticketing system to access the resources that are defined in the ticket.

The Jump Box has played a major role in corporate networks. But advances in technology have made it difficult and outdated. Updating to a software defined peremiter solution will solve any problems you encounter with the jump box as well as meet all your security requirements.

If you want to know more regarding Cyxtera and Infozone, please contact Benny Silfvergren at Infozone.