Automation key to getting SDN security right

This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter’s approach.

Where did your network go?  We’re rapidly approaching a time when enterprises won’t be able to actually see their networks’ cables or the blinking router lights. Software defined networks drive efficiency and agility and make businesses more scalable and flexible. But SDNs also incite uncertainty about security because the network is moving out of plain sight.

If you can’t see the network, how do you control and secure it?  

One useful analogy is the anxiety some people feel when flying; they are afraid of flying yet aren’t at all anxious about driving a car. Yet, statistically, a plane is far safer than the car as a mode of transport.  The key issue here is control.  Sitting in the drivers’ seat, most of us feel in control. We know how to drive the car and how to stay safe. But we’re not at the controls of the plane and, what’s more, most of us don’t know how to fly them. It’s unfamiliar territory, with no visibility.

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