Dynamic Disruption Everywhere
Over 400 IT professionals weigh in on the unprecedented challenges being faced in maintaining optimal service delivery and safeguarding critical assets.
Network security intelligence offers real-time threat detection and post-event assurance for enterprise networks by analyzing traffic behavior over time and storing conversations for post-event investigations.
Reinforce Threat Prevention Strategies with Network Security Forensics
Recent high-profile network attacks have underscored the need for more robust network security tools, specifically software that analyzes actual network conversations and monitors supporting infrastructure to strengthen existing threat prevention solutions.
Observer accomplishes this by a powerful combination of comprehensive wire data analytics and enriched flow records that deliver complete visibility into network traffic and supporting infrastructure. With these rich data sources, real-time threat detection and post-event security investigation capabilities are enhanced. Breaches and compromised resources can be quickly identified, and remediation activities begun.
Now, with the release of Observer v18, packet and enriched flow data now coexist in Observer Apex. By compiling Layer 2 to Layer 3 insights into a single enriched flow record, Observer can produce unique, interactive visualizations that illustrate the relationships between User, IP, MAC, and application usage in the network. A NetOps or SecOps user can simply enter a name enter in a username and immediately find all devices, interfaces, and applications associated with it. Finding out what’s connected and who’s communicating across your network has never been easier.
IT Security Can Never be Too Strong
Defending complex hybrid IT networks with IoT and remote user devices requires a multifaceted data protection strategy. For example, the network perimeter has never been so expansive and potentially vulnerable. Along with firewalls, IDS, and DLP, effective security solutions must include network security intelligence derived on in-depth knowledge of the network traffic and supporting assets.
NetOps and SecOps should come together to deliver outstanding business value and deliver exceptional end-user experience for IT stakeholders using these Observer capabilities:
- Global Threat ID with Scope and Impact - Apex supports full access to the power of GigaFlow enriched-flow records. From the Apex Welcome Screen search by MAC address, IP address, subnet or launch GigaFlow directly. Updated blacklists continuously check against enriched records over time. Network and security teams can quickly assess whether devices or applications are exhibiting aberrant behavior using this network security solution.
- Advanced Traffic Profiling - Quickly identify anomalous activity and monitor acceptable use through sophisticated traffic profiling included in Observer’s network security protection. Every host and device across the IT environment directly from GigaFlow can be accessed via simple navigation from Apex. Characterize traffic by type, usage, application, and communication activity. Profiles are maintained in real time and then stored with all future network traffic and evaluated against past behavior.
- Security Forensics and Reconstruction - Tight integration with GigaStor means Apex serves as an eyewitness to every network conversation, offering intuitive dashboards with summary information of every transaction over time. It also maintains ready access to individual packets for extended back-in-time investigations of suspicious activity. As a part of an investigation process, traffic can be quickly filtered and shared with third-party security and analysis tools.
Network Security Intelligence – Backstop Threat Prevention Efforts
Firewalls, anti-virus software, IDS and DLP systems are necessary but no longer enough to achieve robust protection or to obtain detailed evidence necessary for complete resolution and documentation of cyberattacks and IT breaches. Advanced network security solutions delivered by network performance monitoring and diagnostics (NPMD) solutions like Observer act as a 24/7 security camera that monitors every entity in the environment, detecting real-time anomalous behavior and storing network traffic for extended periods for immediate threat identification or post-event analysis.
Captured packet data allows teams to reconstruct all the traffic on the network up to and after a network security event to gain context while enriched flow records provide deep insight into the status of every network asset.
Network and Security Teams Converging Operational Model
Complex network environments require close collaboration between SecOps and NetOps teams to maximize service delivery while protecting against escalating security threats. The bridge between these two worlds is the network, traffic and the resources that support it. Observer can be the network security solution that delivers on this future paradigm. Why wait until tomorrow when you can have the network security intelligence you need today?
"Although often separate, NetOps and SecOps teams share the common goal of maintaining secure, high-performance network infrastructures. Infrastructure and operations leaders can leverage shared data and solutions to optimize budgets, avoid duplication of effort and improve the end-user’s experience."
– "Align NetOps and SecOps Tool Objectives With Shared Use Cases" By Gartner analysts Sanjit Ganuli and Lawrence Orans, July 24, 2018
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