HPE Aruba boosts NAC security, adds GreenLake 'kill switch'

In addition, HPE Aruba tightened the integration between HPE Aruba Networking Central and HPE OpsRamp, the technology HPE bought in 2023 to manage hybrid and multicloud environments. OpsRamp monitors elements such as third-party switches, access points, firewalls, and routers. Tighter integration expands the ability to natively monitor third-party devices from vendors such as Cisco, Arista, and Juniper Networks. In addition, new application profiling, classification, and risk assessment abilities in HPE Aruba Networking Central will allow enterprises to establish application access policies based on risk preferences, the vendor says.

EdgeConnect SD-WAN and SSE updates

The vendor is also adding distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection to its EdgeConnect SD-WAN appliances.

“We’re leveraging machine learning-based behavioral analytics to establish traffic baselines and automatically detect anomalies that could indicate a DDoS attack,” Lunetta said. “When a potential DDoS attack is detected, we offer a range of remediation options directly within the SD-WAN appliance – reducing bandwidth for the affected connection or blocking it entirely,” Lunetta said. The idea is to build a layer of intelligent self-defense directly into the network’s edge.

In addition, the vendor’s zero-trust-based Private Edge offering is now available within HPE Aruba Networking EdgeConnect SD-WAN and can be activated with an HPE Aruba Networking SSE ZTNA license with no additional fees or additional setup by operators, the company stated. With ZTNA Private Edge, organizations can implement zero-trust policies locally, mirroring those defined in the cloud, providing consistent secure access to resources, the company stated.

The company also added high-availability mesh support to its SSE offering. Mesh connectivity routes traffic via the most expedient path possible, providing secure alternative data paths and automatic failure handling to reduce downtime and securely connect devices without requiring intervention from enterprise IT departments, the company stated. 

HPE GreenLake capabilities

Related to cloud security, Lunetta said the company added a digital circuit breaker or “kill switch” to its HPE Private Cloud Enterprise managed package to temporarily disconnect from the public internet when network threats are detected and isolate critical data, operations, and infrastructure.