Ep. 110 Visibility and Federal Networks

In the early days of computer networking, one was taught to make the network hard on the outside and soft in the inside. A more popular variation on this concept was your network should be like a castle with a moat around it to prevent entry. Well, both metaphors have been destroyed.

Today, you would be naïve if you did not assume the bad guys are inside your network. The proposed solution is, of course, zero trust. However, you do not flip a switch and have a zero-trust network assembled.

Before the world ushers in the panacea of Zero Trust, federal technology leaders must have tools to protect what is going on inside the castle walls. Early attempts Intruder Detection Systems. This approach could generate false positives, needed full-time monitoring, and was expensive.

During today’s interview, Mark Bowling from shares with the audience a concept called Network Detect and Response. They begin with complete network transparency. Through proprietary means, they could gain complete visibility on a network.

Years ago, a federal agency could walk down the hall to see the network; today’s networks are flooded with remote sensors, contractors, new employees, and remote workers. This dynamic nature makes it difficult to draw up a rough diagram, not have a thorough understanding. Even if you did, this network would be changing with virtual systems spinning up and containers adding to the confusion.

Mark Bowling has decades of experience with highly classified documents on highly secure systems. He suggests thorough visibility allows leaders to set up a tiered structure to locate high value assets and protect them first.

Follow John Gilroy on Twitter @RayGilray

Follow John Gilroy on LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-gilroy/

Listen to past episodes of Federal Tech Podcast  www.federaltechpodcast.com