"This was classic espionage, only on a scale we've never seen in a typical adversary," a senior Obama administration official said of the attack on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Dubbed by some as a "Cyber Pearl Harbor," the OPM hack not only compromised the information of more than 22 million U.S. federal employees, but sparked a nationwide conversation about shortcomings in current online security strategies.
Experts from both the private and public sectors are calling for a new approach to security as we know it today. One that focuses on the presumption of vulnerability, that approach that we at Gigamon share and is very concerned about. We know that enemies in computer terms have made paths to infiltrate organizations and we know what they need to achieve their goals. Therefore, we join forces with our allies (Partners, leading manufacturers in the security industry) to arm our customers in every industry to which they belong, not only to fight but to fight intelligently - #wefightsmart
The network is the new battlefield
Last year, we announced the first Security Delivery Platform (SDP) in the it industry, an innovation that makes security tools even stronger – because it allows them to see more, farther away than ever before in their history. The SDP is a beacon that gives light to organizations to traverse the grim path of network security, providing comprehensive and continuous visibility into network traffic in every part of the organization, while activating the ability to filter and direct it to a vast array of existing security tools (firewalls, IDS, IPS, data loss prevention, SIEMs).
Observing the enemy and seeing how he moves, changes the style of the battle; In a multi-layer network architecture that features an integrated security platform that can be optimized to quickly detect network disruptions, is how you are one step ahead in the fight.
The Status Quo is not working
For all currently deployed defenses, irruptions continue to rise. Cybercriminals are penetrating networks, setting up fields and setting up to profit from their misdeeds. How is this happening? – Simple: today's security architectures are fundamentally flawed. It's an alarming but real statement. Security professionals and industry experts recognize this and as long as there is no easy solution to implement, it is clear that the status quo is not working.
At Gigamon, we've proven that increasing the visibility of network traffic helps improve the effectiveness of existing security tools. We have brought our industry-leading technology to infrastructure so that governments, businesses, federal agencies can comprehensively enforce your security.
It makes a lot of sense that if you have an IPS, it can be increased with visibility. The same applies if you have a SIEM, IDS, etc. Visibility makes them better, and if an SDP isn't on your list of security acquisitions, it should. With an SDP, you'll be able to eliminate blind spots by ensuring that your security tools receive the information they need to have optimal detection and response capability.
Visibility in a totally different approach
For more than a year, OPM hackers traversed the agency's security systems. They used that time to move within the network, escalate their privileges within it, and eventually host and successfully extract the database with information from military and intelligence officers.
What is extremely interesting is that their slow and low-profile progress went undetected. The OPM simply did not have the right strategy or tools at the time this occurred. If I turned to see Gigamon, maybe his story would have been different.
Our technology is well grounded. We've been working on developing Visibility Fabrics for a long time, but it's the application that's changing. As the creator and market leader of network traffic visibility, we work together with our partners in this fight against cybercrime. But we also stand out as the first provider in the industry, we believe it should be considered in a new emerging category in the field of security: Security Delivery Platform.
The GigaSECURE security platform is a one-of-a-kind solution designed to solve a universal challenge and combat a widespread enemy. It's about delivering network visibility to security technologies, so they're better at what they're designed to do: detect, respond, and analyze.
A call to arms
"There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is to fight without them."
An aphorism of Winston Churchill that has perfect validity today. Victory on this new battlefield requires allies. That's why, together with our industry-leading partners, Gigamon is calling on action for organizations of all sizes to rethink their security architecture and have elements to tackle cybercriminals. Work together, see threats the moment they arise, isolate and eliminate them quickly.
As a community, we know we are on the verge of something important. Our customers see the value of adopting Gigamon into their network infrastructure. Our partners see it too.
Today we fight together, ready to change the game for our attackers.
Text written by Paul Hooper, CEO of Gigamon.
