Keysight Technologies emphasises cloud visibility and its solutions for security

Keysight Technologies emphasises cloud visibility and its solutions for security

Leading test and measurement equipment provider Keysight Technologies has emphasised the need for cloud visibility and its applications within security.

As securing digital assets and infrastructure becomes a central priority for many businesses in light of tighter security measures, it’s never been more important for secure solutions including cloud visibility.

Kelly Ambriz, International Business & Market Development Manager, Government Sector, Keysight Technologies, Inc., explains: “According to a survey by PwC, 43% of Middle East CEOs are planning to increase investments in cybersecurity and data privacy by 10% or more over the next three years. Moreover, 41% of these leaders think that their organisation should be doing more to measure cybersecurity.

“The ever-evolving threat environment has made it increasingly necessary to be vigilant. Moreover, with new models of working and the increasing popularity of digital platforms, organisations now have an expanded threat surface to protect. Thus, many businesses invest in security and monitoring tools to understand and safeguard their digital infrastructures.”

To add to Ambriz’s points, the cybersecurity market in the Middle East & Africa was valued at USD 1903.59 million in 2020, and it is expected to reach USD 2,893.4 million by 2026. In this region in particular, a heavy focus has been placed on businesses to be as secure as possible particularly as security threats ramp up in sophistication and intensity.

For many businesses, there are common issues they face when reviewing which technology to choose to support their cyber security defences and to get the best value out of it. To begin with, delivering only the appropriate data to each monitoring tool is challenging, as different devices require different sorts of data. Additionally, maintaining optimal network security is a difficulty for businesses.

Another prevalent concern is keeping track of tool expenditures, as monitoring tools can be costly. This is particularly true if there are several linkages (both physical and virtual) where data must be collected, and tools must be inserted. Some engineers dedicate specific tools to specific links, which increases the number of tools required. Before too long, they have under-utilised (i.e., unnecessary) tools due to the architecture design. Furthermore, ensuring that monitoring tool capabilities keep up with developments in network technology is an issue. Whenever network technologies change, interoperability with the instruments needs to be reanalysed and modified. In some cases, new, special-purpose tools may also be required.

Keysight Technologies highlights the solutions:

Incorporating a visibility architecture into the network design is the most cost-effective solution to these problems. Typical components of a visibility architecture include taps, packet brokers, application intelligence, and the monitoring tools themselves.

A visibility architecture aids monitoring effectiveness by ensuring correct access to the data businesses require when they need it. This enables enterprises to remove visibility and security gaps while also extending the life of existing monitoring systems.

A well-designed visibility architecture can do the following:

  • Increase monitoring tool utilisation and useful life by removing unnecessary traffic to the monitoring tools. Moreover, this pools the enterprises’ monitoring tools instead of dedicating them to specific network links.
  • Increase monitoring tool efficiency by offloading non-core functions to network packet brokers.
  • Increase monitoring utilisation by integrating virtual and physical data center monitoring strategies.
  • Increase monitoring effectiveness by leveraging features such as high availability.

Ambriz added: “All of these features help maximise the value of existing monitoring tools. Overall, a well-designed visibility architecture saves money in both the short and long term. It also helps businesses make full use of their instruments’ processing capacity, allowing them to operate for extended periods of time. A good visibility architecture fortifies applications and security, allowing organisations to make the most of their investments.”