Why it’s important to know your network traffic
Investing in bandwidth upgrades without knowledge of traffic is like filling a bucket with a leaking hole
“We are growing and need more bandwidth.”
“We’ll need to double the bandwidth as we are over-utilizing the existing pipe.”
These are common complaints – or requirements – of CIOs and Network/IT managers. Upgrading bandwidth to meet business demands is critical. But equally important is the need to know what traffic types are flowing across the network. Are users making right use of the current bandwidth? Is a DS3 being fully utilized with production or business traffic?
Most companies do not identify their traffic flow due to lack of time, resources, or skill. Budget is commonly available to upgrade the bandwidth but not to analyze the traffic, which is rarely considered a necessity under the assumption that all traffic is legitimate traffic. As a result, it’s comparatively easy to make a business case to upgrade bandwidth than it is to invest in identifying the traffic.
POS security challenges persist, but managed security service providers can help
In recent years, cyber security threats to point-of-sale (POS) devices have become a growing area of interest for many of our customers. Given the threats that now face companies handling credit card information – with the resources of small to mid-market businesses – and the new standards of the updated PCI DSS, many of our clients are wisely looking for ways to ensure their POS security practices are as effective as possible.
I recall, not too long ago, one of our clients in the airport restaurant business had installed an airport kiosk POS system and also offered free WiFi which people could browse the web while waiting for their flights. In most cases, securing this service shouldn’t be a problem. However, during lulls in the workday, some employees would sometimes attempt to plug their own personal laptops directly into the access link, thereby circumventing the security gateway measures, such as network access control, IPS, URL filtering, port security, and logging. This poses several issues with physical security, as well as acceptable use policies, etc. The most critical issue is potentially compromising the POS system security and logging altogether. Due to gaps in monitoring processes/capabilities, these issues would often times go unnoticed by the IT staff – when the local area management points this out, it would be a black eye for the IT director
The Security Side of Mobile Device Management
Previously, Ben had blogged about Why Mobile Device Management (MDM) is necessary for today’s enterprises. Today, I would like to touch on how to secure mobile devices. The main two components of securing mobile devices are 1) securing the connection between the mobile device and the corporate network, and 2) securing the device itself.
Securing the Connection
There are several ways to secure the connection to the corporate network while providing seamless access from any device, anywhere.