In a recent interview, Ariana Lynn, Principal Analyst at The Fast Mode spoke to Steve McConnell, Chief Technology Officer of Cloud Gateway on the impact of traffic visibility on modern IP networks. Steve joins us in a series of discussions with leading networking, analytics and cybersecurity companies, assessing the need for traffic filtering technologies that can deliver real-time, granular application awareness. The series explores how advanced analytics power various network functions amidst the rapid growth in traffic and applications.
Ariana: How do your solutions and products fulfil the demands of today's networks?
Steve: At Cloud Gateway we use the term "Securely connecting anything to everything". Our solution provides secure connections across various networks including public and private clouds, data centres, offices and users. Our PRISM product caters to the growing need for secure communication as businesses adopt cloud-based services and mobile workforces.
Cloud Gateway offers a "fully managed SASE platform" (Secure Access Service Edge). SASE combines security and networking functions delivered from the cloud, which can simplify network management and improve security posture. This is essential for today's complex networks that often span multiple locations and cloud environments.
Through the platform, we unlock network flexibility - by giving customers the freedom to mix and match from a suite of network connectivity and security capabilities. This is important as businesses have varying network needs depending on their size, industry, and cloud adoption strategy. There's no one size fits all approach, solutions from technology vendors should have the capabillity to reflect each unique network estate.
We believe secure, scalable connectivity is the bedrock from which innovative and security conscious organisations can plot their digital transformation and cloud journeys.
Ariana: How effective is deep packet inspection (DPI) technology in addressing today's traffic complexities?
Steve: DPI offers granular control of data, offering the ability to look inside the data payload. This allows organisations to identify applications, enforce policy and detect malware hidden within encrypted packets.
DPI is an effective tool for specific purposes but is not a silver bullet for managing complex network traffic flows. DPI is resource intensive, especially on high bandwidth networks, this can lead to network performance issues if rules are set to analyse every packet.
Overall, DPI is an effective solution, however it does have some limitations, DPI should be used alongside Machine Learning and Network Traffic Analysis to improve network security coverage.
Stephen McConnell, Cloud Gateway's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) has an extensive background in network infrastructure and security spanning over two decades. Tasked with shaping Cloud Gateway's technical direction and overseeing platform development. As well as working internally, Steve spends a lot of time with our customers, helping public and private sector organisations to embrace the cloud, modernise their infrastructure, and integrate emerging technologies into their estate. Steve's professional journey includes roles at Lloyds Banking Group, Capita, The Ministry of Justice, and BetFred, where he played a pivotal role the execution of large-scale network transformation projects.
This interview is a part of The Fast Mode's Traffic Visibility segment, featuring leading networking, analytics and cybersecurity companies and their views on the importance of network intelligence and DPI for today's IP networks. A research report on this topic will be published in June 2024 - for more information, visit here.
