NC Nov-Dec 2021
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FEATURE: SASE<br />
A ROADMAP TO CLOSING THE NETWORK<br />
AND SECURITY DIVIDE<br />
NETWORK AND SECURITY TEAMS CAN NO LONGER OPERATE AS<br />
PARALLEL-BUT-SEPARATE ENTITIES, ACCORDING TO NEIL THACKER,<br />
CISO EMEA AT NETSKOPE<br />
Cloud-centric digital transformation has<br />
allowed network teams to build a<br />
workplace that can be anywhere, at<br />
any time and at the convenience of<br />
employees. This has revolutionised how we<br />
work, and made the enforced shift to remote<br />
and home working during the pandemic<br />
possible. It has also brought challenges,<br />
particularly for security teams who still need to<br />
identify employees and provision access to<br />
the required services in a secure manner.<br />
Before the widespread shift to the cloud, a<br />
security problem was just that; a problem for<br />
the security team to handle. However,<br />
increasingly network and security teams are<br />
no longer able to operate as parallel-butseparate<br />
teams; they have to function<br />
seamlessly together if the organisation is to<br />
operate safely and effectively.<br />
Traditionally both teams could coexist<br />
without significant issues but within the cloud,<br />
the primary concern of the networking<br />
function - performance - is not so easily<br />
separated from security's need to protect. The<br />
protective perimeter approach is no longer<br />
applicable in this new cloud environment.<br />
That means, as networking teams look to<br />
maximise all of the potential performance<br />
benefits from operating in the cloud, they<br />
must find a way to balance security's need to<br />
secure and control who has access to<br />
corporate data without negatively impacting<br />
performance.<br />
Most teams know they need to play well<br />
together and see the need for a change in<br />
attitudes and closer collaboration.<br />
Companies are exploring ways to converge<br />
efforts, personnel and budgets by adopting a<br />
SASE (Secure Access Service Edge)<br />
architecture as a way to ensure neither<br />
performance nor protection is deprioritised. If<br />
early transitions to the cloud were complex,<br />
this next step will be no less challenging. My<br />
job is to support CIOs, security leads and<br />
networking teams to make these necessary<br />
changes and I advise starting with three steps.<br />
Firstly, establish some shared parameters<br />
and metrics for success. By agreeing on a<br />
common set of parameters for digital risk,<br />
network performance, and user experience,<br />
network and security teams can ensure that<br />
everyone is working towards a common goal<br />
with no conflicting priorities. Once that is<br />
done, every activity or change can be<br />
measured and evaluated against those<br />
agreed goals. Each team must be equally<br />
12 NETWORKcomputing NOVEMBER/DECEMBER <strong>2021</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />
WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK