Cisco Introduces Innovations Driving New Security Cloud Strategy

Cisco, one of the leaders in enterprise networking and security, has unveiled its plan for a global, cloud-delivered, integrated platform that secures and connects organizations of any shape and size. The Cisco Security Cloud is being designed to be the industry’s most open platform, ensuring the integrity of the whole IT ecosystem – without public cloud lock-in.

The Security Cloud will offer a unified experience for securely connecting people and devices everywhere to apps and data everywhere. The open platform will deliver threat prevention, detection, response, and remediation capabilities at scale through a unified administration. Cisco has been on the path to the Security Cloud for some time and is now sharing additional progress with new security advancements throughout its portfolio.

Secure Access

Cisco is developing solutions to provide genuine continuous trusted access by continually checking user and device identification, device posture, vulnerabilities, and signs of compromise, ushering in the next generation of zero trust. These clever checks run in the background, allowing the user to operate without interruption from security. Cisco is providing less intrusive ways for risk-based authentication, such as the patent-pending Wi-Fi fingerprint as an effective location proxy without impacting user privacy.

To evaluate risk after a user logs in, Cisco is building session trust analysis using the open Shared Signals and Events standards to share information between vendors. Cisco unveiled the first integration of this technology with a demo of Cisco Secure Access by Duo and Box.

Secure Edge

Cisco+ Secure Connect Now, a single Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solution, is being introduced to significantly simplify how enterprises connect and protect users, devices, and applications everywhere. Cisco+ Secure Connect Now is a turnkey product provided in a number of countries that enables users to swiftly implement SASE and simplify day-to-day operations via a cloud-managed platform. The value of the as-a-service subscription is maximized and controlled through a unified dashboard.

Cisco offers unmatched breadth and depth in its networking and security capabilities, which is why Telefonica Tech will add Cisco’s SASE suite to its service portfolio.

Secure Operations

Cisco has launched a new Talos Intel On-Demand service, which provides bespoke research on the threat landscape specific to each enterprise. Cisco introduced changes to Cisco Secure Cloud Analytics to assist expedite incident detection and response, including the ability to instantly elevate alarms into SecureX and map those alerts to MITRE ATT&CK. This comes on the heels of the general release of SecureX device insights, which collect, correlate, and normalize data about the devices in their environment, as well as the integrations of Kenna and Secure Endpoint to better prioritize vulnerabilities. Cisco also announced the Secure Firewall 3100 Series, which is intended for hybrid usage and features a new encrypted visibility engine that detects hidden threats using artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Simplification

With the introduction of the new unified Secure Client, Cisco is simplifying its offering. Half of Cisco Secure agents, including AnyConnect, Secure Endpoint, and Umbrella, will be unified by mid-year 2022, streamlining how administrators and users manage endpoints, with more agents added over time. This comes on the back of the new cloud-delivered Secure Firewall Management Center, which is enabled via the Cisco Defense Orchestrator and integrates management of cloud and on-premise firewalls.