Your business depends on your network. A network security analyst tells you how to keep it secure
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've been hearing over and over again that network security is critical to all kinds of companies. You know that you need to protect your systems from viruses, of course, but that's only the beginning. Now we're being told we also have to analyze our networks for all manner of unknown vulnerabilities.
Is network security analysis really necessary for small and midsize companies? In a word, yes. At least according to Ajit Sancheti, the co-founder and CEO of Mu Security, a developer of network security analyzer products.
Click here for Ajit Sancheti At A Glance: 6 Things You Didn't Know About The Life Of A Security Expert
bMighty recently sat down with Sancheti to learn more about the new world of network security analysis. What is it, we wanted to know, who needs to do it, and, perhaps most importantly, will it save you money?
bMighty: Why is network security analysis important?
Ajit Sancheti: I'll give you a metaphor. In the old days, when people bought cars there were questions about the features and how powerful the car was, but once you bought the car you expected that it would end up in the mechanic's garage at some point. These days, the expectations of cars are very high. Car manufacturers have built-in processes for good cars.
Same thing for products over an IP (Internet Protocol) network — like servers or network devices. Over time the network has become important for the small to midsize business and it's no longer just about features or performance but now it's also about how reliable, resilient, and robust the systems on a network are. Security analysis ensures that. Business depends upon it. The more critical the network is to the business, the more important security analysis becomes because one failure can mean a lot of losses.
bMighty: What does this analysis do?
Sancheti: There are two aspects to it. One is to ensure that hackers can't get into the network. The other is to make sure it's reliable. It's never 100 percent but it raises the bar. There are so many devices going onto a network and the interpretations of the specifications vary so it can be a problem. Security analysis can look at the specs and generate valid and invalid traffic to ensure reliability, avoid downtime, and avoid the security vulnerability of a network breakdown.
bMighty: Why can't I just rely on my anti-virus software?
Sancheti: That just looks at known viruses, not at how the devices interact on the network. Anti-virus software is a very small part of it. Worms and viruses exploit vulnerabilities that are known already or they exploit human behavior. A security analyzer tests any device on an IP network or server and systematically exploits weaknesses in the network. A security analyzer finds out how the house is constructed. Antivirus software just exploits the crack in the door. Security analysis is more about finding where the weaknesses are than seeing how the weaknesses can be exploited.
<bMighty: Who needs network security analysis? When should they do it?
Sancheti: Anybody who depends on a network should do it and anybody who needs to see what devices are vulnerable on the network. Many companies will do a network security analysis when they're trying to do a new deployment of infrastructure and they'll do it again when they're changing a configuration or upgrading, anytime the network posture changes. Business owners could also request third-party security testing of any network product being considered. If the business is smaller, it could also consider a network service from an operator called a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) including AT&T, Sprint and others.
bMighty: What should a small or midsize company consider when thinking about implementing network security analysis?
Sancheti: You should look for a service that looks for known vulnerabilities and unknown vulnerabilities, anything that will slow down your network. We provide an appliance but there are some consultants that can implement the service and that's a good way to start for small or midsize businesses. But it should be incorporated as part of normal business practices anytime there is a change to the network. This is a proactive way of knowing what you will find reactively. Then you can go back to the vendor and say "fix it," or get a sense of the quality of the network so you can plan and configure it differently.
bMighty: How can network security analysis impact a small or midsize company's bottom line?
Sancheti: The most important thing to a company these days is the network, even more important now than just five years ago. Any kind of downtime because of malicious traffic directly relates to a loss in revenue. So, it's really the revenue you expect will not be lost due to downtime.
Next Page: What You Need To Ask Before Implementing Networking Security Analysis
