Key Points:
- Data assurance is defined as managing your data in a way that assures you stay compliant with the following: 1. Data sovereignty laws (such as GDPR and CCPA, etc.) 2. Industry regulations (such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, etc.) 3. Internal corporate rules (such as those designed for data loss prevention or cybersecurity).
- Data Assurance covers many technology areas; the text of the GDPR law alone is 261 pages. However, one area is crucially important: The network itself.
- The enterprise must be able to control the path data takes when moving from point A to point B and have full visibility into data both during that journey and after it is complete.
- Where is the most efficient place to orchestrate data assurance? If you add controls at the application level, you will have to add controls in hundreds or even thousands of applications and sites worldwide. This is unworkable.
- Today, the simplest way to control the path data takes between two points is to use a private network (leased lines, for example). But today’s private networks are extremely expensive and don’t offer much in the way of visibility.
- The reality is that yesterday's network solutions don't provide a workable solution for achieving data assurance. The ultimate solution is to deploy a next-generation private network with built-in data assurance controls. What would this look like?
You already know that every day at Network Computing brings the how and why behind next-gen networks, data centers, storage systems, communications, and cloud architecture.
That means original reporting from our team of journalists and unique commentary you won’t see anywhere else! But in case you missed them, here are some of our other must-read favorites from this week:
How are Copper Thieves Impacting Critical Infrastructure?
Key Points:
- Just when IT managers thought they had accounted for and addressed all possible threats to the health and well-being of their network sites, an unforeseen challenge has emerged. That is the rise in cooper thieves who turn copper lines into gold.
- The cash-for-copper phenomenon is not new, but it has evolved into a nationwide problem, resulting in knocked-out lights, interrupted traffic, downed countless websites, and transportation nightmares.
- The
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
has estimated that metal theft costs U.S. businesses around $1 billion a year. From January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2012, NICB analysts identified 33,775 insurance claims for the theft of copper, bronze, brass, or aluminum—32,568 of them (96 percent) for copper alone.
-
AT&T
is collaborating with local officials and the police in the Dallas area. The company offered residents a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in connection with copper cable thefts. Smaller carriers in less densely populated areas, such as Kinetic, have also offered a $10,000 reward.
Embracing the Future of Automation
Key Points:
- Network Operations teams are caught between a rock and a hard place. They're set to difficult tasks like preventing network outages, implementing security policies, and maintaining delivery of many important applications and services, all while staying on top of troubleshooting.
- Traditional NetOps processes are no longer sufficient for modern networks. These processes are still quite manual - according to the
Gartner
2023 Market Guide for Network Automation Platforms, 65% of enterprise network activities were still done manually in 2023.
- Updating old processes can help NetOps solve the challenges explained above, which translates to fewer outages, better network performance, and better security. Many of these processes can be automated, but this requires a culture shift for NetOps teams that are used to doing things manually.
- Overall, a cultural shift towards automation can improve operational efficiency, reduce mean time to recovery, and reduce the risk of service delivery issues. It does this by scaling up NetOp’s processes without scaling up the staff.
Say Goodbye to Weak Network Security!
Key Points:
- On average, detecting and containing a threat takes more than 200 days, leaving systems vulnerable for extended periods. Many struggle with inefficiencies in their security operations, making it harder to respond to threats.
- Campus Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) provider Nile has launched a new service that simplifies an enterprise network’s security architecture and tackles the vulnerabilities and complexity of traditional enterprise networks, most of which include elements such as virtual local area networks (VLANs).
- The
Nile
Trust Service isolates each device and user into a secure network segment, encrypts communications, and ensures all traffic passes through firewalls for monitoring and enforcement. This prevents the lateral movement of threats within the network.
- In summary, Nile’s new Trust Service provides a modern approach to network security. It combines device isolation with automated security operations and integrates with advanced tools like
Palo Alto Networks
’ Prisma Access. This enables the customer to modernize their networks and integrate security into them as opposed to running them as an overlay.
Ready to Trim Your Multi-Cloud Expenses?
Key Points:
- Effective multi-cloud cost management should balance savings with maintaining and improving service levels, as well as business development opportunities, advises
Nigel G.
, director and senior advisor at business and technology advisory firm
NCC Group
.
- "It requires thorough analysis and strategic planning to ensure that essential resources aren't under-provisioned, critical services aren't compromised in the pursuit of lower expenses, and that cost increases may be justified," he observes in an email interview.
- Gibbons suggests analyzing your current and projected usage to understand your organization's provider leverage. "Engage directly with the account manager to discuss options such as volume discounts, longer-term commitments, or reserved instances that offer reduced rates," he advises.
- Are you ready to begin shrinking your multi-cloud budget without sacrificing performance or reliability? Then, consider the following six safe and effective ways of trimming multi-cloud costs.
Dear Reader: A Note from the Editor-in-Chief
Informa TechTarget
is accelerating growth by uniting
Informa Tech
,
Industry Dive
and TechTarget to form a leading B2B media company, delivering insights through 300+ journalists and comprehensive coverage across 30+ technology segments and 45+ industry verticals.
Commentary of the Week
Key Points:
- Despite the fast pace in artificial intelligence development, organizations are falling behind in their ability to handle AI demands, according to
Cisco
’s 2024 AI Readiness report released last week.
- Only 13% of organizations are “fully ready” to realize the possibilities of AI, a decrease from 14% in 2023, the report revealed. In addition, only 21% of organizations have the required GPUs to satisfy current and future AI demands.
- Companies are experiencing a real urgency from their leadership to make the most of AI within the next 18 months. Close to 85% of companies surveyed believed they only have 18 months to begin showing how AI is impacting their business.
- Inadequate compute, data center network performance, and cybersecurity infrastructure contributed to the biggest decline in infrastructure readiness. Organizations also lack the power consumption required for AI workloads, according to Cisco.
Latest Major Tech Layoff Announcements
Original Story by Jessica C. Davis, Updated by Brandon Taylor
Key Points:
- As COVID drove everyone online, tech companies hired like crazy. Now we are hitting the COVID tech bust as tech giants shed jobs by the thousands.
- Updated December 5, 2024 with layoff announcements from
Lightspeed Commerce
,
AlphaSense
,
Ola Electric
and
Headspace
.
- Check back regularly for updates to InformationWeek's IT job layoffs tracker.
“Take 5” and subscribe to our official YouTube channel to join us as we embark on a new, rapid-fire style interview series with experts of all things tech. In this episode, Alapan Arnab, vCISO and consultant for cybersecurity and resilience, discusses life as a former VP in fintech, current challenges and more.
WATCH ON-DEMAND!
“A Handbook for Infrastructure Security & Resiliency”
An archived LIVE virtual event from November 7:
In this archived keynote session, Tia (Yatia) Hopkins, chief cyber resilience officer and field CTO of eSentire, explains how cyber hygiene enables organizations to know and adapt to the differences between security and resiliency to sustain business continuity.
This segment was part of our live virtual event titled, “A Handbook for Infrastructure Security & Resiliency.” The event was presented by Network Computing and Data Center Knowledge on November 7, 2024.
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