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The Importance of Maintaining Network Visibility for your Organization

Published

3 years ago

October 18, 2021

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Organizations have become heavily dependent on their network systems. These device assemblages and interconnections are vital to communications within businesses, and between businesses and the outside world.

But these networks are often at risk of being sabotaged or exploited by ill-intentioned agents. These malicious actors may seek out vulnerabilities within networks and work through them to strike at their target entities.

If companies are going to reduce the chances of being hit by cyberattackers, they will have to gain greater visibility of their networks, so they can monitor the goings-on across them, and take measures to strengthen their defenses.

Network Visibility Defined

Network visibility is being able to access, track, and analyze all components of a network, including the devices and the data that passes between them.

Essentially, it means that you are able to evaluate aspects of a network such as its traffic, performance, applications, managed resources, and data.

In pursuing network security, IT teams seek to identify where data is coming from, where it’s going to, the purpose and type of data, the quantity of data, and whether it’s authorized or not.

In order to achieve network visibility, organizations will have to find ways to monitor network activity with as much detail and consistency as is possible. They can do this with various tools designed for this purpose.

A key issue in network visibility is defining the extent of the network’s reach, and thus, the breadth of monitoring that needs to be done. With more employees working remotely, networks may extend well beyond their employer’s physical offices. All devices plugged into the network need to be visible, regardless of where they are.

Why Organizations Need Greater Network Visibility

Perhaps the most obvious advantage that companies gain when they have greater visibility of their networks is that it lets them detect security concerns or breaches early enough to remedy them.

The nature of cyber threats continues to evolve. And each year, organizations across the world devote a significant portion of their budgets to securing themselves against those threats. Unfortunately, may don’t pay enough attention to shoring up their defenses. As a result, they may fall victim to cyberattacks.

Available data suggest that cybercrime cost businesses more than $1 trillion in 2020. That amount includes both spending on cybersecurity and losses due to cyberattacks. The figure could reach $10 trillion by 2025.

When companies have a better view of what goes on in their networks, they can detect vulnerabilities and breaches, and fix them before they morph into costly incidents.

But the benefits of network security do not merely reside with seeing off cyber threats. Inefficient data transmission through networks is a concern as well. When data clogs up a path, the network may underperform.

Greater network visibility enables IT teams to spot this problem. They could fix it by updating the firmware of the device concerned so that it has a better reaction to network congestion.

Sometimes, networks may underperform because unauthorized devices or software have been plugged into them. This is often not done by ill-intentioned agents; it could simply be employees using company resources when they shouldn’t be doing so. If their employer has greater visibility of their network, they can detect such unauthorized software or devices and remove them.

There could be any number of other problems that a network may have. Whatever they are, it certainly helps to be able to review the entirety of the network, as it could enable the affected organization to discover what those problems are, and quickly troubleshoot them.

Contemporary Challenges To Network Visibility

As businesses begin to realize the importance of network visibility, more of them will take steps to make it a reality within their domains. However, they may encounter certain impediments that prevent them from achieving a reasonable range of vision across their network.

One of these problems is the use of multiple vendors for networks and network components. Organizations go the multi-vendor route as a cost-cutting measure. However, besides actually increasing their costs, the multi-vendor approach also makes networks more complex, thus making them difficult to manage. Ultimately, it could reduce the degree of network visibility that an organization can achieve.

Challenges could also arise when a company operates with a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. While employees will like to work in environments where this policy is in place, it could bring about difficulties in network management. IT teams will need to work out a network visibility strategy that takes devices not owned by the employer into consideration.

Remote work also makes broad network visibility harder to achieve. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, more companies have had to make their employees work from home. Their devices will be connected to their employer’s network from remote locations, often on a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Because these devices aren’t as firmly controlled as those owned by companies, things like passwords or access keys are always at risk of being stolen by malicious actors, who could use them to access companies’ networks. Given this danger, it’s important that remote access is covered by network visibility setups, even if it’s sometimes difficult to accomplish this.

How To Maintain And Improve Network Visibility

Network threats may either be external (taking advantage of vulnerabilities that may be externally exploited) or internal (resident within the network). Full network visibility will have to include both these fronts.

There are various technologies that may be used to accomplish a wide, far-reaching view of network setup. But these tools may require the input of a trained IT team to operate as they should.

When developing a visibility strategy, it’s important to work with network security experts that will make implementation and monitoring easier.

Layer3 can provide you with the expertise your organization needs to gain comprehensive network visibility. Our consultants and engineers have a deep knowledge of network infrastructure. They leverage this to provide best-in-class solutions that make your IT setup function optimally.

If you would like to find out more about our network security solutions, click here.

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Airtel Hosts Interactive Knowledge Session for Secondary School Girls

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1 day ago

May 4, 2024

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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As part of its commitment to empowering and mentoring women to become global leaders while breaking stereotypes and closing gender gaps, the Airtel Women Network, a platform comprising female employees of Airtel Nigeria, welcomed girls from Airtel’s adopted school, Alaba Oro Comprehensive Senior High School, Ajegunle, to commemorate International Day of Girls in ICT on Monday.

Led by the telco’s IT Director, Kemi Ariyo, the session emphasized the need for the rise of influential female role models in driving progress within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers. It also served as an avenue to inspire young girls about the vast opportunities within the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field.

During the session, Ogo Ofomata, Director of Enterprise and Airtel Business and President of the Airtel Women Network, shared insights on the significance of the 2024 commemoration with the students.

“Leadership entails leading yourself to do the things you have to do. With regard to the theme of this year’s International Girls in ICT Day, which is Leadership, our goal is to empower young girls and women to become programmers, coders, designers and to pursue careers in the ICT sector, ultimately becoming leaders in the IT sector,” she said.

The highlight of the event was a thought-provoking session led by Kemi Ariyo, IT Director at Airtel Nigeria, emphasizing the importance of technological knowledge in addressing various global challenges.

In her words, “The world revolves around technology and everything we do today has to do with technology. You can get into that space by adopting hard work, smart work, and an active involvement in internship programs. In addition, just as technology can be used in music and other sectors, learning technology can help you achieve your goals of problem- solving in this digital age.”

Also speaking at the event, Phanindra Nichanametla, Chief Financial Officer, Airtel Nigeria, restated Airtel’s tagline ‘A Reason to Imagine’, reassuring the students of Airtel’s commitment to encouraging positive imagination. “A very important note to take home from this event is that Airtel is here to change your imagination and give you opportunities to imagine more,” he said.

Airtel remains committed to promoting initiatives that promote gender equality and diversity in the workplace. By investing in the education and empowerment of young girls in ICT, Airtel Nigeria continues to pave the way for a more inclusive and prosperous future in the world of technology.

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Mastercard Women SME Leaders Awards to celebrate success of women business leaders in EEMEA region

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1 day ago

May 4, 2024

Ugo Onwuaso

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Mastercard announces the return of Women SME Leaders Awards for its third edition, shining a spotlight on the remarkable achievements of women-owned and led businesses across Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA).

Black and white portraits of different people

Nominations are now open for the awards, inviting entries from women-owned and operated SMEs with a turnover of less than US$13.6 million (AED50 million) and a workforce of six to 50 employees. All women executives or business owners who have their headquarters or offices in EEMEA or offer their services to these markets can submit their nominations by 20 May 2024*.

“Women-owned and led businesses are vital contributors to the global economy, fostering economic growth and stability. By empowering women entrepreneurs and business leaders, we unlock the boundless potential they have and drive inclusive prosperity. The Mastercard Women SME Leaders Awards aim to recognize and celebrate their remarkable contributions,” said Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President, Market Development, EEMEA for Mastercard.

Winners will be announced on 6 June 2024, during an in-person event in Dubai, emphasizing Mastercard’s commitment to fostering connections and collaboration among women business leaders in the region.

The awards will feature 15 categories*, ranging from creative leadership to social impact and a lifetime achievement award. Shortlisted candidates will be evaluated by an esteemed judging committee of industry leaders dedicated to recognizing excellence and innovation in women-owned and led businesses.

Launched in 2022 to uplift female entrepreneurs and business leaders, these awards serve as a platform to honor and elevate women who are forging the path for future generations of business leaders in the region. Building upon the success of previous editions, this year’s event promises to extend its reach and recognition to even more exceptional women leaders.

Aligned with Mastercard’s global initiative to connect 25 million women entrepreneurs to the digital economy by 2025, these awards underscore the company’s dedication to building a more sustainable and inclusive world even though this global goal was achieved by Mastercard last year, two years before the target date.

With last year’s awards attracting over 4,500 nominations from across EEMEA, this year promises to be even more impactful, amplifying the voices and accomplishments of women leaders in business.

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Infobip, Nokia Partner to Enable Developers to Build Wider Array of Telco Network Powered Applications Faster

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1 day ago

May 4, 2024

Ugo Onwuaso

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Infobip, the global cloud communications platform, and Nokia today announced a partnering agreement that will enable the global developer community to leverage both companies’ Application Programmable Interface (API) platforms in order to build a wider array of telco network powered applications faster for consumer, enterprise, and industrial customers.

Matija Ražem, VP of Business Development, at Infobip

Infobip’s market-leading cloud Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) provides developers with APIs for integrating real-time omnichannel communications features such as SMS, voice, video, chat apps, and network APIs into their applications. Nokia’s Network as Code platform with developer portal offers developers APIs for tapping into 5G network capabilities like quality of service (QoS) on demand, device location precision and network slicing, as well as 4G capabilities.

Developers will be able to utilize all of those capabilities more easily, giving them complete coverage of Network and CPaaS APIs in the development of new use cases and the capacity to enhance application performance.

Nokia’s Network as Code platform with developer portal brings together networks from around the world, along with systems integrators and software developers, into a unified ecosystem; using technical standards produced through industry initiatives such as the GSMA Open Gateway initiative and the Linux Foundation CAMARA. Nokia and Infobip contribute to both initiatives.

Infobip’s customer engagement use cases include CAMARA-compliant Number Verify and SIM Swap APIs, which are already live. The firm is also working to bring further use cases to market including Device Location and Quality on Demand APIs, having now signed 12 API collaboration agreements. The CPaaS platform was recently named a finalist in the inaugural Global Mobile Awards GSMA Open Gateway Challenge for its anti-fraud intelligence collaboration.

The joint work between Infobip and Nokia will offer a simplified developer experience without the burden of navigating the complex underlying network technologies, allowing developers to integrate capabilities into their applications faster, relative to working separately with the two companies’ platforms.

Nokia has signed collaboration agreements with 11 network operators and ecosystem partners to use the Network as Code platform with developer portal since its launch in September 2023.

Matija Ražem, VP of Business Development, at Infobip said: “This agreement with Nokia further demonstrates how Infobip is helping telcos deliver new services and gain new revenue. We will continue to build and offer additional CAMARA-compliant APIs worldwide, working closely with our telco partners to expose customer experience friendly APIs to developers It is testament to our global market-leading CPaaS position, strong developer relations and history of strategic telco collaborations. These are essential to increase the potential for a successful collaboration and faster time to revenue.”

Shkumbin Hamiti, Head of Network Monetization Platform, Cloud and Network Services at Nokia, said: “This partnering agreement reflects our ongoing commitment to work closely with the developer community. It is about expanding choice and scale and giving developers a one-stop shop for extracting value from Infobip’s and Nokia’s platforms. We look forward to working with Infobip and maximizing our respective technologies.”

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