Cisco’s latest: self defending networks

With new viruses and security threats emerging everyday, what’s the way out? The answer could lie in Cisco’s Self Defending Networks, says SUSHMA NAIK

PICTURE THIS. Your organisation’s network is able to stop a virus even before you know it exists. What’s more, if you use an infected laptop to log into your company’s intranet, the network will not only stop your request but also tell you what is wrong with your laptop. Already a reality, Cisco’s Self Defending Network (SDN) will help organisations be proactive rather than reactive to security threats.

Cisco says that the SDN is intelligent enough to identify threats, react appropriately to severity levels, isolate infected servers and desktops, and reconfigure network resources in response to an attack. “It will be characterised by proactive, automated and behaviour-based security deployment. This will enable customers to design a secure network,” says Avinash Purwar, the company’s business development manager.

Danger, Will Robinson

Users will be quarantined if any potential danger is found after scanning the applications running on a system. This scanning will be behaviour-based as against the normal signature-based scan. It boasts of a quarantine zone that can either treat the affected system by denying access or offering limited access. Those users denied access will have the option of downloading the latest version of anti-virus software.

Layer by layer

The SDN has three aspects. The first focuses on secure connectivity with different components such as SSL Multiprotocol label switching technologies to protect data, voice and video applications over wired and wireless media. The second focuses on defence which could contain components such as firewalls and the Cisco Security Agent (CSA) to monitor traffic and prevent attacks. The final aspect consists of the trust and identity management system including the Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS) and authentication protocols embedded in Cisco switches and routers. Cisco says that combined together, these give the SDN the ability to pro-actively protect an enterprise.

The defence system helps raise security levels in existing network infrastructure while adding security at the endpoints, both server and desktop. The threat defence system comprises technologies and products through which security is integrated in routers, switches and appliances. Endpoint protection works through the CSA. Since security is implemented at multiple layers and vulnerable users are quarantined, Cisco says that its network deserves the tag of self-defending.

NAC me up

With its Network Access Control (NAC) initiative, the company is working with anti-virus vendors McAfee, Symantec and Trend Micro. The main objective of these partnerships is to let Cisco’s products communicate with products from anti-virus vendors. Devices running NAC will permit access only to trusted devices such as PCs and laptops; support from anti-virus vendors is crucial as these devices need to be updated with the latest anti-virus updates and patches. Devices without up-to-date patches will be denied network access.

Says Devendra Kamtekar, network consultant, Cisco, “The partnerships will help Cisco cater to 70 percent of the market.” (The three anti-virus vendors together account for the bulk of the market.) “The service will be made available to the customer at a cost less than that of deploying an anti-virus solution on a desktop,” he adds. For Cisco’s SDN vision to work, every device on the network should be able to proactively tackle viruses—something which Cisco wants to do with NAC.

While other networking vendors are eyeing the same route by embedding security features in networking gear, Cisco holds a clear advantage due to its dominant position in the market for LAN and WAN gear.

sushma@expresscomputeronline.com