Geographically widespread enterprises are adopting Software-Defined Broadband Networks (SD-WAN) at an ever-increasing rate. Why? Because SD-WANs not only significantly reduce costs, reduce complexity and make network access point more secure, they help businesses become more agile and responsive.
How does an SD-WAN solution do this? Enabling businesses for multiple forms of connectivity, including lower-cost broadband Internet services, resulting in significant.
A traditional WAN can take weeks or even months to get up and running, while an SD-WAN that includes a broadband connection can be online in hours. However, Spectra SD-WAN solution is needed to make broadband Internet services secure enough for businesses.
Impact of SD-WAN on Network Access Points and Network Security
Today, organizations can use SD WAN technology to implement software-defined branching (SD branching) to extend IT environments to branch offices outside headquarters and high-quality network connections.
The SD-WAN is particularly useful for retailers, hospitality groups (hotels, restaurants, etc.), commercial banks, and other large distributed organizations, as it uses SD-WAN technology to simplify the IT architecture of branch offices, reducing the required resources and budget to maintain operations.
SD-WAN solution to improve network security and compliance
Spectra SD-WAN solutions enable distributed enterprises to build a better WAN and securely connect users to applications without compromising application performance over any WAN transport service. Spectra SD-WAN solution covers all six ways organizations can improve security and network access point with the following features:
• WAN hardening: Each WAN hotspot is protected and hardened edge-to-edge. WAN hardening secures branch offices without the spread of devices and the operational costs of deploying and managing dedicated firewalls.
• Integrated Stateful Firewall: An extension to WAN authentication, the Integrated Stateful Firewall allows outgoing traffic but only incoming traffic to user-initiated sessions, providing strong branch protection. This removes the requirement for a separate firewall in branches with no applications, helping to streamline the WAN architecture.
• Virtual WAN Envelopes: EdgeConnect’s SD-WAN solution is based on application-specific business purpose virtual WAN overlays. Multiple virtual overlays take the underlying physical transport services, and each overlay supports different QoS, transport, and fault tolerance features. Virtual WAN overlays also extend the micro-segmentation of specific application traffic within the WAN to help maintain security compliance.
Steps to secure your network access point with SD-WAN?
Use Broadband Internet Services Safely
The internet has historically needed to be more secure for enterprise WAN use. Therefore, cloud-based application traffic from the branch office is often sent over extensive Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) WAN links to the hub before being sent to the internet. This scenario is expensive, and application performance is often compromised due to branch WAN bandwidth limitations and the added backhaul. The answer is to use direct Internet connectivity with SaaS and reliable web applications from the affiliate. The right SD-WAN solution secures network access points and internet connections by creating encrypted tunnels.
Apply micro-segmentation for highly granular security
Micro-segmentation – segmenting traffic based on application characteristics, performance requirements, and security policies – is a security best practice, but it has been challenging to implement in WAN environments. However, with the right SD-WAN solution, you can implement a fine-grained segmentation approach that extends micro-segmentation of the data center across the WAN to create a zero-trust architecture.
Micro-segmentation allows you to improve security by:
• segmenting and applying separate policies to each application or group of applications
• Responding quickly to threats to contain and isolate them from other segments
• Automating policy enforcement
• Reducing the attack surface by isolating applications (if one is compromised, other applications are not at risk because they are segmented) • Gaining greater control and manageability
Securely connect branches directly to internet applications.
Advanced SD-WAN solution enables you to intelligently steer trusted, internet-bound application traffic directly from the branch to the internet, eliminating inefficient backhauling. However, not all SD-WANs are the same. But not all SD-WANs are created equal. The difference is that it can automate the identification of trusted SaaS and web applications that can go directly to the internet and those that should be brought back to headquarters for further security review. Look for a solution beyond ports and protocols and provides granular application detection based on the first packet received.
Traditional deep packet inspection methods (DPI) require several packs to identify the application. With multiple application intelligence technologies, including first packet detection, you can fine-tune traffic based on rules: directly to the internet for reliable traffic, a secure network access point for other traffic such as YouTube streaming, and following generational firewall for unknown or suspicious traffic. You can reduce security risks as SD-WAN automatically adapts to changing conditions. In addition to detecting the first packet, you should look for an SD-WAN solution with a built-in stateful firewall to prevent unauthorized external traffic from entering the branch while branch-initiated sessions are allowed.
Make zero-touch provisioning secure
One of the most significant benefits of moving to an SD-WAN solution is the zero-touch provisioning that allows you to bring a new branch office or remote location online in minutes without dedicated IT. Knowledge needed in the branch. Zero-touch security also minimizes the risk of human error because a policy (or policy change) is defined once and then automatically “pushed” or propagated to all devices in the SD-WAN. While the ability to add new branches to a WAN is a boon for speed and ease, zero-touch also requires extensive security measures.
Therefore, you should require an SD-WAN solution that provides:
• A chain of trust enforced by a supervisor, master, or certificate;
for branch device authentication;
• Strong encryption that creates a secure channel for chain enforcement trust
• Centralized approval and revocation of devices
• Two-factor authentication improves security
• Ability to remove unauthorized or rogue devices from the network by disrupting all traffic and preventing the download of configuration data
With the Spectra SD-WAN solution, organizations gain unprecedented network access points and continuous endpoint risk monitoring at all access levels—regardless of device type or branch location. All from the cloud with no local components.
