Understanding the role of cloud-delivered network protection

Every organization has public-facing network infrastructure. This infrastructure hosts a range of applications, including those that support employees, customers, and business partners. It may include gateway services that provide network connectivity such as VPNs, virtual desktop servers, or jump servers. This infrastructure also delivers critical IT and network services such as email, file servers, DNS, remote access, and communications like VoIP. 

Public-facing infrastructure is a challenge to secure, as it is addressable by anyone on the Internet. As a consequence, it is vulnerable to a number of different threat vectors. For example, attackers can scan the infrastructure to inventory discoverable applications and services. If attackers find a vulnerability in the operating system, the appliance, or the software in the future, they could take advantage of the exploitable window before a patch is developed or installed. 

Conventional network firewalls, along with multiple firewall helpers, are simply not enough. The time for architectural change is now, but the path for change has not always been clear. In this paper, we will illustrate the types of attacks that are employed against public-facing infrastructure, highlight the problems organizations face, and make the case for implementing cloud-delivered protections through a connectivity cloud.