Self Defending Network

 Self Defending Network

As the nature of threat is evolving day by day on networks so it is important that defense method should also evolve. Earlier threats from both internal and external sources were slow in movement and can be easily tracked and destroyed. But now internet worms are spread all across the globe so it is important for security systems and network itself to react to threats instantaneously. The Foundation to SelfDefending Network is important to counter threats on the network. Every device present in network plays an important role in securing the network. This ensures the Data Security and protects the network against internal and external threats. It identifies threats and reacts accordingly to it, Isolates the Infected Servers and systems and then reconfigures the network in response to an attack.

As the number of Computer Network is increasing day by day so it is also important to make a network more secure and reliable. As more and more data is flowing through the network, so it increases the security issues as a result more complex and secure protection is required for the network. So it is very important to provide security to both software and hardware components in the network. To make a network more secure a proper analysis should be carried out of all types of threats that can occur in the network. After the analysis is made a proper network design should be made. This Paper introduces the need of Artificial Intelligence in the network Security thus making the Network Intelligent. This paper also introduces a next generation Intelligent Network, a Self-Defending Network (SDN), a network which analyze all known as well as unknown threats which may occur in a network. This Self Defending Network also provide security not only from External threats but also from Internal Threats. A Network that is able to handle large data and information very quickly thus minimizing the threat on the data

ANALYZING RISKS

The first step towards building a secure network is to carefully analyze and identify each attack and evaluate the risk introduced on a network. Risk analysis helps in knowing what type of damage may cause on the network by the attacker. It also provides various methodology to prevent the attack before it take place on the network. A proper Risk analysis include: 

• Assets identification. 
• Identifying the threats. 
• Identifying the vulnerabilities. 
• Analyzing the Existing Control.

Security Design Steps

The concept of a self-defending network is not new. In the early 2000s, leading network and security vendors such as IBM and Cisco used the term to describe a network-as-a-platform. A collection of network and security devices working together as one unit to defend against cyber-attacks by adapting continuously to stay one step ahead of cyber threats.

10 years ago, the technology and tools required to bring together multiple vendors to create a self-defending network was very limited. Moreover, the cost of building such a system was prohibitive, and the market as a whole was not ready. Most security vendors had closed systems with no ability to integrate them with other third-party systems. Self-defending networking was more fiction than reality since organisations did not have a mature enough network and security ecosystem to implement it.

Things have changed. Today, the technology glue to bring different devices in a homogeneous framework is ripe, and the market is ready. The advances in data analytics, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), combine all the ingredients necessary to create self-defending networks.

In this article, I cover the fundamental components of self-defending networks, how enterprises can benefit and how the BlockAPT Central Management Platform has turned the fiction of ten years ago into reality today.

Central management and deep integration:

In order to enforce an organisation policy, central management is required to bring all the different components into a unified ecosystem. A single command and control view ensures that policies and processes can be managed from a single pane of glass. By using APIs and native plugins, devices that are part of the system can be controlled in a consistent manner. A central management engine enforces the organization’s security policy at a global level.

Continuous monitoring:

Monitoring is key in order to ensure visibility across the entire ecosystem. A SIEM solution is used as a central collecting engine for all raw logs and events collected from devices. That data is then sent to an engine for correlation and long-term storage. Using Big Data and security analytics, events correlation can be used to give the overall self-defending network more intelligence. Anomalies can be detected faster. Rules can be pushed to devices in order to respond to cyber-attacks in real-time using known patterns, heuristics and machine learning models. The data collected over time across the network provides greater threat intelligence. The more data the better. As the self-defending network matures, it can ‘learn’ faster overtime by self-tuning, reducing false positives, maximizing its effectiveness and helping reduce the organisation's overall cost in security operations.

Automation and orchestration

Automation refers to the use of playbooks and rules that provide an abstraction layer required to formulate response plans. Using various tools and technology such as RPA, automation is allowing processes to be systematized. Menial network tasks can be automated freeing valuable time for security teams so that they can focus on critical incidents. Rules are pushed in a consistent manner to devices enforcing a defense-in-depth approach whereby protection is implemented at several layers in order to defend more effectively against cyber-attacks.

Responding faster to attacks:

The end result of an effective self-defending network is the ability to respond faster than current systems can. By leveraging deep integration with devices that are part of the self-defending network, playbooks and rules are used to take specific actions. For example, ransomware is detected at the endpoint device, not only is that threat neutralised at the endpoint, but the adjacent network switches can also quarantine the device by blocking the port until successful remediation is applied. Many other rules can be created and applied at global level. With all these components working together in a coherent and consistent manner, security teams can reduce operational cost and complexity dramatically. The bottom line is that organization can dramatically improve their Mean Time To Detect (MTTD) and Mean Time To Respond (MTTD).

self-defending networks: business benefits

The benefits to organizations are tangible. Network and security automation means that security teams can free up valuable time by automating menial tasks so that they can focus on critical incidents. Playbooks can be created and re-used on demand throughout the enterprise, cutting down online enterprise applications delivery lead times and ensuring that online business applications are delivered in a fast and secure manner in the cloud or on-premises. Key business benefits can be summarised as:

• Central management of network and security infrastructures that simplifies management of disjoint and different technologies.
• Automation of menial tasks in order to free up time from security teams given the resourcing challenges facing many organizations worldwide.
• Consistency in delivering services across the organizations since automation provides a way to re-use rules and playbooks in a predictable and consistent manner.
• Integration of network and security processes with overall organizations business workflows which brings security operations and development operations together.
• Institutional memory within the self-defending network ecosystems means that knowledge transfer is consistent, and the intelligence acquired within the enterprise over time can be safeguarded given the global cybersecurity resourcing challenge.

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