Top 5 Reasons to Use Zero Trust Architecture and Splunk
In order to implement a Zero Trust framework into an organization, prioritizing network intelligence is a must. As an organization expands their size or project scope and implements micro-segmentation, it can become increasingly complex to monitor and manage data while protecting against potential threats. Proactive organizations need their applications to be highly available and responsive at all times, working as part of a cohesive, secure network that connects storage infrastructure and the network servers to the clients when and where they need it. Advancements in technology like server virtualization, public cloud infrastructure and Splunk data analytics have allowed for greater application availability at a reduced cost, making business continuity and disaster recovery possible for businesses of all sizes.
By using a combination of Splunk’s analytics-driven approach to network security and Red River’s expertise, organizations can not only keep up with increases in volume and velocity of data but easily segment, isolate and protect their network as it evolves. Splunk works to prevent data breaches by analyzing all cloud, on-premises and hybrid machine data and interpreting it to understand the impact of incoming alerts or incidents when they arise.
What is zero trust architecture?
A Zero Trust architecture is based on the approach where location (physical or network) does not provide an implicit trust but instead utilizes both authentication and authorization to determine access condition and level. The focus of zero trust becomes on protecting assets that are 1) spread across many locations and environments including those not within the organization-owned network and 2) being accessed by an ever-increasing number of devices. In the end, zero trust is all about the data – who should have access, when, to what degree, and by what device.
Here are some ways Red River and Splunk analytics can help enable your business to use Zero Trust architecture:
- Optimized Monitoring with SD-WAN
A Software-Defined Wide-Area Network (SD-WAN) can increase the resiliency and availability of a network by abstracting the circuits in the physical layer and creating overlays for improved security and network visibility. The quality of the circuits can then be monitored and optimized using IP Service Level Agreement (SLA) probes to measure factors like packet loss, latency and jitter before the data traffic continues the path that meets the application’s SLA requirements.
- Prioritization
When a device connects to a network the device specifications and user authentication information are transmitted to the network access control (NAC) device to be processed and collected for authorization and prioritization. If a Software-Defined Access (SDA) infrastructure is used, the NAC server will respond with macro-segmentation and establish the correct network overlay for a host in order of priority.
- Improved Response
Using Splunk’s algorithms powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) trends can be identified before users experience an issue when connecting their devices. After the authenticator sends a request to the authentication server, the server will either reject or accept the data as the network node places the device connection into a virtual network and assigns a source identity for all host traffic. Zero Trust architecture allows for administrators to correlate application and user activities across all network infrastructures in real-time.
- Accessibility
Devices can be granted access to the network with Secure/Scalable Group Tags (SGTs). This process works by identifying and marking traditional network information, such as Virtual LAN (VLAN) assignment, IP addressing or other network-based characteristics. After recognizing the network’s identity, user accessibility can be improved by engaging Splunk’s advanced security reporting and analysis capabilities for use on- and off-premises and in hybrid environments.
- Remediation processes
The network administrative team can increase accuracy by providing feedback on data gauged from predictive analysis. This process enables self-remediation to take steps that were previously taken and automatically execute them again to resolve an issue. Remediation can make networks more secure by introducing the ability to learn through a dashboard where cases like network bandwidth monitoring, capacity planning and cyber threat detection can be addressed.
For some, deploying a Zero Trust architecture can yield difficulties in development and implementation. Splunkbase has applications that can enhance the delivery of advanced security monitoring and reporting with ease, granting the ability to perform flow data consolidation, show overloaded network device interfaces, report hosts communicating with bad actors and much more. Some examples of network-related apps and add-ons include:
Palo Alto Networks App for Splunk
This app leverages the data visibility provided by the Palo Alto Networks security platform with Splunk’s investigative and visualization capabilities to deliver advanced security reporting, metrics and analysis from real-time and historical perspective.
Cisco AnyConnect Network Visibility (NVM) App for Splunk
Cisco AnyConnect NVM allows IT administrative personnel to analyze and correlate user and endpoint behavior in Splunk Enterprise. This application can provide greater visibility into endpoint behaviors from other contexts – user, device, application, location and destination for flows both on-and off-premises.
Netflow Analytics for Splunk App
The Netflow Analytics for Splunk solution is used for network traffic monitoring of AWS Cloud or infrastructure housed on-premises. The app provides virtual dashboards and reports to aid administrators in securing their data and protecting their network.
Splunk can be used to solve data challenges like security, operations, mission critical and implementing a Zero Trust based architecture. By delivering predictive capabilities through a 5G/B5G infrastructure, Red River and Splunk can provide businesses with a proven solution for global visibility into any data analytics problem. Contact the experts at Red River today to get started.
