Networking, cloud and cybersecurity multinational Cisco has launched its Cisco Security Cloud, which aims to provide end-to-end cybersecurity visibility and defence for business ecosystems, in the Europe, Middle East, Africa & Russia (EMEAR) region, said Cisco EMEAR head of technology Gordon Thomson.

“Our vision is for a global, unified platform for end-to-end security for organisations of any size and shape, and it is also an open platform with no lock-in protecting the entire [information technology (IT)] ecosystem,” he said during a virtual media briefing on June 13.

The solution also provides security across hybrid multi-cloud environments. Cloud-native applications' components are distributed, which provides the many benefits of cloud apps, but also adds significant complexity.

Many apps rely on hundreds or even thousands of containers and each container spawns metadata of event logs, for example, on an ongoing basis.

“This is massive amounts of information and data that is coming at customers at breakneck speed and they still need to derive insights from the data stream.

“To allow optimisation of app performance in a cybersecurity-resilient way requires that networking and cybersecurity teams collaborate and collectively figure out how to run these apps 24/7 and keep them secure,” said Thomson.

Further, businesses compete as ecosystems. This means the success of one business is dependent on other businesses, he pointed out.

“Cisco's plan is for a global, cloud-delivered, integrated security and networking service for organisations of any shape and size. The Cisco Security Cloud will protect the integrity of the entire IT ecosystem without public cloud lock-in,” he said.

With data that can be almost anywhere, the question is how to ensure the risks are managed. If a breach occurs, the aim is to ensure the impact is as limited as possible.

“The solution is integrated architecture and for security and networking operations teams to come together to provide an integrated security experience across the ecosystem,” said Thomson.

Additionally, the security landscape is fragmented and lacks standardisation and, therefore, also interoperability, which presents serious challenges in terms of visibility and control across environments, he said.

“Cisco is in a unique position in terms of scale and our cloud-neutral business model to meet customers' security needs and catalyse the security ecosystem,” he noted.

“Resilience has always been a corporate mandate. In addition to operational, financial and supply chain resilience, there is another critical imperative in today’s world, namely security resilience,” said Cisco executive VP and security and collaboration GM Jeetu Patel.

With the complexity of hybrid architectures and the advanced threat landscape, Cisco believes security resilience requires a unified platform for end-to-end security across hybrid multi-cloud environments, he noted.

“The Security Cloud will provide capabilities for securely connecting people and devices everywhere to applications and data anywhere, and for threat prevention, detection, response and remediation at scale.

“With unified management and policies, the Security Cloud will also have open application programming interfaces to enable third-party solutions and a security marketplace,” he said.

To simplify how organisations connect and protect users, things and applications anywhere, Cisco has introduced its unified secure access service edge (SASE) solution Cisco+ Secure Connect Now.

The solution allows customers to quickly deploy SASE to improve daily operations through a cloud-managed platform as an as-a-service subscription.

Meanwhile, Cisco is building next-generation zero-trust solutions that enable true continuous trusted access by constantly verifying user and device identity, device posture, vulnerabilities and indicators of compromise.

“These intelligent checks take place in the background, leaving the user to work without security getting in the way. Cisco is introducing less intrusive methods for risk-based authentication, including the patent-pending Wi-Fi Fingerprint as an effective location proxy without compromising user privacy,” the company said.

Further, to evaluate risk after a user logs in, Cisco is also building session trust analysis using the open shared signals and events standards to share information between vendors.