Cisco : What if your network could do it all? Be digital-ready AND secure your business.

Cisco Blog >Security

Networks today are supposed to be digital-ready, meaning fast and agile to propel business into a world where everything is connected. Getting there has hit some major speedbumps due to highly publicized hacks. And this has started a virtual arms race, where no expense is spared to deploy numerous, disparate security solutions. Yet somehow, the industry average for detecting a breach is currently over 100 days. It seems the marketplace is overlooking a major component of their security posture - the digital network itself.

What if your digital-ready network could not only support capabilities like automation and virtualization, but also effectively detect threats? Yes, the same network you're enabling today could double as a threat sensor. This means built-in network security that reduces the need for numerous, disparate 'bolt-on' solutions, which potentially provide redundant layers of security that increase operational cost and reduce network efficiency. Most people don't realize their digital-ready Cisco network can detect threats TODAY.

How? You need visibility!

It's an oft used expression - you can't protect what you can't see. That's why Cisco's Network as a Sensor solution eliminates network blind spots where sophisticated threats can hide. It's enabled by next-generation security products - specifically, Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Cisco Stealthwatch - that use your network and transform it into its own security system.

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Get 360° visibility

To detect and stop complex security issues you need visibility into who and what is accessing your network and what's happening. With this full line of sight you have the ability to get rich reporting and analytics that lead to actionable threat intelligence. By integrating ISE to identify and provide attribution to any indicators of threat identified by Stealthwatch, you get the details you need to identify security issues fast. Built-in security offers end-to-end network visibility that makes all the difference in seeing bad things MONTHS before the industry average.

See results immediately

Getting this visibility doesn't require a complete network overhaul. Stealthwatch and ISE can fit into your existing network infrastructure. Elavon is a payment processing company that's benefited from the Network-as-a-Sensor approach. In their case, they've found that when there's a security event they can now see what's happening within minutes! So this isn't theoretical. Real companies are seeing real results.

To learn more about how Cisco can make your network more than just a conduit for data, visit our Network as a Sensor solution site.