Cisco has demonstrated a new spin on information security: networks that can detect attacks and enforce information security.
It calls these two approaches 'network as a sensor' and 'network as an enforcer', said Robert Soderbery, senior vice president of enterprise products and solutions, during a presentation on the second day of the Cisco Partner Summit in Montreal.
As a sensor, the network can automatically monitor for potential risks such as anomalous network traffic.
If identified, the network can segment and contain the network before attackers can spread across the entire network, as well as enforcing policies to protect applications and data.
"The network as an enforcer, using technology like TrustSec and ACI, becomes a powerful tool coupling the network to the security architecture.
"For users, it turns into dramatic improvements in efficacy of the statistics they care about the most: incident identification time, eradication time, how much it costs to root this stuff out."
Soderbery said this technology created opportunities for Cisco partners to drive "security-driven network refreshes".
In a light-hearted video showing a mock security attack, Cisco poked fun at both Fortinet and Checkpoint for being easier to breach; both rival vendors are also Cisco ecosystem partners for its ACI software-defined networking strategy.
Steven Kiernan is a guest of Cisco in Montreal.
