Episode 5: Networking and Security in the Fully Hybrid Future

We live in a changed world. Advances in technology that were supposed to take years happened in months. Along the way, assumptions and legacy thinking gave way to urgency and a can-do .. no, must-do attitude.

But one person’s chaos is another person’s opportunity. Cyber attackers have taken advantage of the disruption, scaling up their attacks against poorly defended end-points that suddenly sat in a living room, not a perimeter-protected, fire-walled corporate office.

But a funny thing happened on the way to recovery and resiliency. Networking and security teams, along with business leaders and employees began to see the benefits in working together, breaking down the silos that hold back progress.

 At the same time, technology transformation put advanced tools like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning into the hands of the good guys. Automation promised some relief from the shortage of skilled security personnel. Partners and service providers stepped in to bolster capabilities.

And thanks to protocols like SD-WAN and Zero Trust, the network evolved into a security plus rather than a vulnerability. We learned from the pandemic.

In this fifth and final episode, we focus on the people, technologies, and data that’s driving a reassessment in how we think about networking and security. It’s a future where networking and security are even more integrated; where security is woven into everyday tasks, software, configurations, protocols, and plans. A future where the responsibility for security is shared throughout the organization.