Cisco continues to invest in addressing the rapidly changing security needs of businesses today with the announcement of new context-aware security enforcement across its security portfolio.
The new borderless organizations have dramatically changed the definition of how, when and where people work, causing a need to redefine the way security solutions are built and deployed.
Driving this change is a new wave of mobility, virtualization and cloud technologies that have forced IT security administrators to deal with a multidimensional problem and to rethink how security must be implemented and enforced.
To enable companies to conduct business without borders, Cisco is introducing a new highly distributed security architecture that manages enforcement elements like firewalls, Web proxies and intrusion-prevention sensors with a higher-level policy language that is context-aware to accommodate business needs.
These next-generation scanning elements are independent of the physical infrastructure and can be deployed as appliances, modules and cloud services. Better suited to address todays security challenges, they are designed to know exactly who a user is, what role that user plays in the organization, and whether that user should be allowed access.
Tom Gillis, vice president and general manager, Security Technology business unit, Cisco:
Todays business environment requires proactive, context-aware security that provides deep insight, control and operational efficiency. Cisco SecureX Architecture and the Cisco ASA with context-aware firewalling represent a significant leap forward in allowing businesses to better embrace increasing mobility, virtualization and collaboration across business boundaries.
The Cisco ASA will be the first to offer full context-aware firewalling and policy enforcement.
By combining local context using Cisco TrustSec, global context from Cisco Security Intelligence Operations, and mobile insight from Cisco AnyConnect,
the Cisco ASA allows businesses to gain visibility into their network infrastructure,
provide better security, and create streamlined policies that correspond to business rules.
Users, applications, data, reputation, devices, posture, threats, destinations,
sources and locations are some of the components of the multifaceted context that the Cisco ASA will deliver.
These will allow customers to extend their existing trusted firewall infrastructure to be consistent with the dynamic needs of their businesses and employees.