Tip of the Week: Security Coverage Goes Beyond The Perimeter

Rarely is it sufficient to provide protection solely at the major entry and exit points of a network. Most enterprises also need to address a variety of locations both outside and within the perimeter, including distributed offices, operational networks, data centers—both physical and virtualized— and an increasingly mobile workforce.

Many legacy security solutions just don't cut it here. Maybe they have reduced feature sets for smaller capacity appliances targeted at branch offices, or completely different product lines altogether. And some legacy solutions simply don't have an answer for mobile users, period.

Palo Alto Networks ensures consistent security policies across the enterprise regardless of location. Our network security platform accounts for the unique requirements of all users and locations, providing a consistent set of protection and application enablement capabilities—all without having to manage a completely separate set of policies and infrastructure.

These topics come up a lot, so here's how we think about them at Palo Alto Networks and what you should consider when discussing your next security upgrades.

• Branch Offices: Consistent capabilities and features across your entire portfolio of security appliances can drastically simplify the management of security policies across any distributed enterprise. Palo Alto Networks' platform also supports rapid configuration of secure, inter-office communications.
• Cloud Computing, Data Center, and Operational Networks: We favor a high-performance architecture with a variety of deployment options. For example, you can operate multiple independent firewall instances within a single physical appliance as a convenient, low-cost option for simultaneously meeting the needs of multiple business units. A full-featured virtual appliance deployment option can also be used to support the transition to dynamic, cloud-like data centers. No matter what, you have to have an answer for each scenario.
• Mobile Initiatives and Remote Users: BYOD, roaming users and mobility initiatives introduce substantial security challenges. We designed our GlobalProtect product so that you can extend the same security policies and protection enforced within the physical perimeter to all users, no matter where they are located. Unlike with other solutions, there is no need to create and manage multiple, separate sets of policies for mobile device users.

- Isabelle Dumont, Director, Industry Marketing