Simplify with Network Security as a Service (NSaaS)

Digital transformation has changed from being an IT buzzword to a commonly used term. Over the past two years, interest in digital transformation has surged because of the increased dependence on remote working models resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Shifting an organization’s applications and data to the cloud introduces numerous benefits, such as reducing operational costs and increasing competitive advantages. However, it also expands an organization’s cyber attack surface and makes them more vulnerable to many cyber threats.

Cybersecurity has become a necessity in almost every industry. But even for technology companies, the nuances of cybersecurity may be outside the domain of the organization’s expertise.

To counter growing cyber threats, organizations of all sizes and industries work daily to strengthen their cyber defenses. Investing in cybersecurity awareness training and installing the latest technological security products (both software and hardware) are how most organizations combat the increased volume of cyber threats. However, in a complex threat landscape that changes almost daily, countering all risks is complicated, and can take a lot of resources if you are going to manage network security on your own.

This article discusses a new cloud-native network security deployment service used to inspect and protect against malicious ingress, egress, and east-west traffic within an organization’s network: network security as a service (NSaaS). It also introduces Trend Micro Cloud One™ — Network Security as a pioneer solution in this field.

What is network security as a service (NSaaS)?

While it is possible to handle cybersecurity concerns by maintaining an in-house cybersecurity team, organizations can also opt for a solution such as network security as a service (NSaaS), alleviating their cybersecurity burden and freeing internal resources.

NSaaS is a modern cloud solution run by a managed security service provider. NSaaS works by controlling and managing all security solutions installed on client network perimeters. The solutions managed include firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), intrusion prevention systems (IPS), security information and event management (SIEM), and anti-spam systems. It also monitors all digital interactions in the client IT environment to detect cyber threats early and respond to them quickly.

Today’s IT environments are more complex than before. Modern IT environments span on-premises and cloud environments. The variety of users accessing these environments, such as organization employees, third-party vendors, contractors, sub-contractors, and other suppliers, has added even more complexity. The number of internet of things (IoT) devices is also growing, which means more entry points for cyber attackers to exploit.

These emergent issues make handling the security of computer networks without seeking external help from a professionally managed service provider a daunting task, and one rife with potential errors. In cybersecurity, avoiding errors that lead to security problems is crucial because one mistake can ruin the entire business.

An NSaaS provider does more than simply handle the security configuration issues of network perimeters. For instance, NSaaS also takes care of identity and access management and suggests security rules that all users must follow when accessing your IT environment.

NSaaS: The answer to many network security challenges

IT leaders worldwide appreciate the importance of cybersecurity’s capability to mitigate cyber threats and respond to them quickly once they happen. For instance, your in-house cybersecurity teams are responsible for the following duties to ensure the security of your organization’s network:

• Tracking vulnerabilities in the entire IT environment, including endpoints, servers, IoT, and cloud apps, and working to solve them promptly.
• Monitoring security defense solutions, such as IDS and IPS, firewalls, antivirus, antimalware, and SIEM.
• Identifying attacks and suspicious activity and responding to them before they escalate.

Acquiring an internal security operations team is possible for large-scale organizations. However, most firms worldwide are small to medium-sized. They cannot afford the cost of having an entire cybersecurity team. For instance, having an internal security operations team can have the following drawbacks:

• Budget limitations — Maintaining your in-house security teams requires considerable spending to gather a team of experts with various cybersecurity skills.
• Lack of experts — Finding professional cybersecurity experts isn’t easy. If your team has many vacant positions that you failed to fill, a threat actor could exploit this to attack your organization.
• Challenge to retain — Suppose you have successfully gathered a perfect cybersecurity team. Now, how many team members do you expect to stay with you? For example, experienced members may leave for other companies to increase their salary after a while. In contrast, less professional staff may work with your company for one or two years to accumulate experience and then go to another company.
• Difficult to manage — Your cybersecurity team is responsible for all aspects of cybersecurity operations. Managing all team members is difficult because you will always need a reputable manager to oversee teamwork all day, every day.

Outsourcing your cybersecurity needs to an external security provider brings numerous benefits to your organization, such as:

• A significant reduction in costs. Maintaining in-house teams will cost you considerable money. For example, hiring one professional cybersecurity engineer will cost you more than $100,000 annually, while outsourcing your entire network security to an external provider will cost you considerably less. Additionally, most NSaaS providers will offer their service on a subscription basis. The client can select the tier that best fits its current workload and increase it later as necessary.
• The use of highly professional cybersecurity experts, even when the number of skilled IT experts is small compared to market demand. For example, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, there are 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs worldwide. Your managed NSaaS provider can hire the best talent in the field that small and medium-sized (SME) firms cannot afford.
• Managed security providers leverage advanced security solutions, such as network detection and response (NDR) and other proprietary solutions, to protect computer networks and data. They use the latest computing technologies (machine learning and artificial intelligence) to detect threats such as unknown malware and zero-day exploits.
• Enhancing your overall cyber defenses. Outsourcing your network security protection to an experienced external provider allows your organization to use the latest technological defenses and gain support from professional and knowledgeable cybersecurity experts, who work around the clock to protect sensitive resources from ever-changing threats.
• Finally, outsourcing your cybersecurity needs allows your internal IT professionals to focus on organizational objectives while leaving the repetitive tasks of network monitoring and incident handling to a professional external security provider.

Trend Micro Cloud One – Network Security

Trend Micro is a global leader in Preventive Threat Intelligence powered by Trend Micro Research and the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) to protect customers from known and unknown cyber threats. It already has a wide customer base in all major countries. This global reach allows Trend Micro to detect the latest cyber threats and spread this knowledge instantly to benefit other customers using their Cloud One platform.

Network Security is one of eight services of the Trend Micro Cloud One platform. It is an advanced, cloud-native network threat detection and vulnerability protection service built for public clouds of all sizes. It discovers and blocks sophisticated cyber threats in cloud architectures with accuracy and simplicity, enabling organizations to restore compliance, embrace cloud security with confidence, and protect critical data.

Trend Micro Cloud One – Network Security has two easy and quick agentless deployment options: virtual appliance and hosted infrastructure.

• When you deploy Network Security as a virtual appliance within your network infrastructure you will have the flexibility to customize the services and be responsible for the virtual appliance deployment, scaling of resources, and software maintenance. Trend Micro will only be responsible for inspecting the network traffic.
• When you deploy Network Security through hosted infrastructure Trend Micro will be responsible for maintaining the network security deployment, scaling of resources, software maintenance, and inspecting the network traffic.

Trend Micro Cloud One – Network Security can protect your networks from the latest threats:

• Employing a defense-in-depth model with multiple layered defense mechanisms to protect valuable assets.
• Deploying easily within an existing cloud infrastructure to inspect ingress, egress, and lateral (east-west) traffic to protect against malicious activity, command and control (C&C), as well as internal and external threats.
• Integrating with an advanced cyber threat intelligence platform, Trend Micro Research, which facilitates capturing unknown threats and zero-day attacks.
• Providing complete visibility of all network interactions, enhancing the security team’s visibility in the entire IT environment.
• Immediately deploying transparently without disrupting current business operations on cloud network environments.
• Auto-syncing through virtual patching to quickly respond to threats that exploit known vulnerabilities without slowing down your business applications. Always on – always protected.
• Ensuring continuous network compliance and audit readiness for monitoring traffic (PCI 11.4) and restricting access to essential domains and locations (PCI 1.2.1).

Conclusion

Network Security-as-a-Service (NSaaS) is a new methodology of managing cloud network security by employing the latest technologies to counter unknown threats and detect abnormal behavior before it becomes a direct threat.

Trend Micro provides an excellent solution that all organizations can use regardless of size and industry. Trend Micro has additional tools, such as a cyber threat intelligence mechanism to detect unknown malware and zero-day vulnerabilities. This allows organizations to better prevent advanced cyberattacks while saving on cybersecurity defense costs.

Learn more about what Trend Micro Cloud One – Network Security offers by visiting the product page.