January 9, 2017
Data security should be a priority of every IT department in every industry across the country. Though cyber threats may seem abstract and detached, the risk is too high to neglect your data security strategy. Recognizing the importance of this technology, Cisco has incorporated its security portfolio in with its Cisco ONE software purchasing platform.
Cisco ONE provides an alternative consumption model for Cisco software solutions. Instead of a traditional a la carte model in which administrators must purchase licenses for software individually, Cisco ONE offers several software suites. Data security is simply the newest suite added to the collection. Cisco ONE makes it faster and easier to refresh license agreements, and as new features are developed and released for these solutions, subscribers will receive immediate access to them.
CEOs, IT directors, and security admins can now leverage the convenience of Cisco ONE to simplify licensing procedures for key Cisco security products. Upon closer inspection, the value of this Cisco ONE expansion becomes clear.
Three Core Capabilities for Cisco ONE Advanced Security
Cisco ONE Advanced Security for the Data Center
If the data center is the heart of an IT environment, then Cisco ONE Advanced Security for the Data Center is the Kevlar bullet-proof vest. It includes Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) as well as their Next-Generation Intrusion Prevention System (NGIPS), URL filtering, virtualized firewall, and more. All in all, it offers a fairly comprehensive data center security strategy.
Perhaps the most compelling offer here is that Cisco AMP is connected to Cisco Talos, the world’s largest hub of cyber threat intelligence. Talos analyzes real-world threats attacking networks around the world and spreads the knowledge it gains to Cisco security products, so they can identify and block similar attacks in the future.
Cisco ONE Advanced Security for WAN and Edge
The second package builds upon the products offered in Cisco ONE Advanced Security for the Data Center with expanded security for the WAN and Edge. It includes everything (excluding the virtualized firewall) in the data center package, but also provides a secure virtualized private network application, Cisco AnyConnect Plus.
One extra attractive feature of this suite is its reputation- and category-based filtering. Cisco security solutions will be able to filter out traffic from over 280 million suspicious websites.
Cisco ONE Advanced Security for Access
Cisco ONE Advanced Security for Access has some overlap with the WAN and Edge suite, but the focus here is specifically on network access and visibility. It includes Cisco AnyConnect Apex as a VPN solution along with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). ISE provides the compliance, visibility, and mobile device management tools the modern network needs to properly manage access.
A Shift in Data Security Strategy
Perhaps the most important benefit outlined here was one of the first mentioned. Because of the subscription model for these software solutions, the IT environment is always using the most up-to-date version of the software. As new features, tools, and options are developed by Cisco, the IT environment can immediately make use of them for no extra charge. In the realm of data security, this is key. There are hackers and security professionals working tirelessly every day to develop new ways to gain the upper hand. If an IT environment is using out-of-date solutions, they put themselves at risk.
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