With attackers getting increasingly clever over time, businesses must evaluate their present SD-WAN security from a new perspective.

SD-WAN‘s, like other network technologies, necessitate extremely robust security solutions. SD-WAN technology has a number of advantages, including decreased transport costs and increased agility. However, once the traffic of a structured, private MPLS VPN is moved onto a public broadband channel, businesses have trouble addressing security concerns.

The five most effective strategies to keep network sites safe from hackers, intruders, and attackers while guaranteeing their resilience and security are listed below:

Including SD-WAN security in the company’s entire security architecture

It’s a mistake to think of SD-WAN security as a separate entity when it’s still an important part of a larger company security strategy. SD-WAN is viewed by most businesses as a connectivity solution that provides data encryption. SD-WAN solutions, on the other hand, do not guarantee data security and are not responsible for discovering security risks.

With a DN controlled detection response architecture in place, security teams must actively establish a holistic approach that incorporates policy-based control rules that are designed to monitor data traffic.

Stop thinking of SD-WAN as a standard network technology

SD-WAN security necessitates a whole different strategy, and CISOs should never consider them in the same light as traditional physical networks. Traditional networks impose some restrictions on data flow that SD-WANs do not. Furthermore, because the Internet is the network with SD-WAN, the limits that apply to traditional networks do not apply.

Having security tied to a single provider

With the expansion of network infrastructure and the discovery of new threats, each company’s security requirements change over time. They must stay adaptable in order to quickly and cost-effectively switch to alternative security solutions as new threat vectors emerge. 

Unfortunately, some SD-WAN vendors bind their customers to a single proprietary security stack, denying them the freedom they demand.

Firewalls from the past should never be taken at face value

Traditional WANs backhaul traffic to data centers or a classic firewall may be installed at the branch and maintained separately from the edge router. This causes a number of concerns, including significant performance penalties, high bandwidth costs, uncertain application performance, and, in certain cases, additional complications in IT infrastructure management.

Enterprises must take extra security steps when installing SD-WAN connectivity, as connecting to the Internet exposes the organization to a larger attack surface.

The SD-WAN appliance should be placed correctly

By installing the SD-WAN equipment behind the firewall, many SD-WAN adopters unintentionally bypass their firewalls. Failure to correctly install the SD-WAN equipment puts the system in danger of malware infestation. By placing the SD-WAN box in front of the firewall, the security issues associated with a misplaced SD-WAN box are eliminated. This will allow it to handle WAN connections while the internal network is being protected by the firewall. After making changes to the SD-WAN, it’s also critical to double-check any security controls.

Many next-generation firewalls and unified threat management appliances now include SD-WAN capabilities, such as intelligent path routing, so businesses can take advantage of the latest network security technology. By utilising such built-in features, businesses will be able to address at least the placement difficulties, as well as save the expense of managing two appliances. All of these suggestions, however, can only work if businesses take a new approach to SD-WAN security.

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