Cisco has announced a major expansion in focus for its security group, oriented around the midmarket and the under-resourced.
The vendor has for one switched up its customer focus from being primarily enterprise-oriented, with a refreshed ASA firewall to target midsize companies, branch offices and industrial settings.
The move makes sense: According to a recent PwC study, security compromises at midsize organizations increased 64% in 2014. They face the same challenges as enterprises when it comes to securing their network and data, but often rely on legacy and outdated security platforms that fail to provide protection before, during and after an attack. Attackers are finding distributed sites and industrialized locations to be attractive targets because they are often viewed as easier entry points to access sensitive information and data either at the remote location or on the corporate network.
The ASA with FirePOWER firewall offerings integrate multiple threat protection technologies, and have automated tuning and correlation capabilities to prioritize events and reduce IT staff demands.
"Hacking is a sophisticated business, and as the attackers become even more profit-driven, midsize businesses, branch offices and industrial environments are increasingly in their crosshairs,” said David Goeckeler, senior vice president for the Cisco Security Business Group. “As organizations work to protect themselves and their partners, they require security solutions that combine sophistication and simplicity, while also offering low total cost of ownership.”
It has also added the Incident Response Services division to its ranks, which it says can “address the talent gap in cybersecurity”—a boon for the midmarket, where hiring dollars aren’t going towards security personnel.
"Attacks are occurring at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, many enterprises do not have cybersecurity professionals with the necessary expertise and skills to prepare for and mitigate these attacks,” explained James Mobley, vice president of the Cisco Security Solutions Group. “The Cisco Incident Response Services team works with businesses to address these challenges, taking an intelligence-driven approach to security, so that security blind spots can be reduced and network visibility improved. Armed with this insight, Cisco can significantly minimize the impact of a breach via proven readiness and response services."
Dovetailing with the threat intelligence analytics trend, the company has integrated ThreatGRID’s malware intelligence and analysis, acquired June 2014, into its advanced malware protection (AMP) portfolio.
"Every day organizations are faced with advanced threats that infiltrate and persist in company environments for months before they are discovered,” said Marty Roesch, vice president and chief architect for the Cisco Security Business Group. “We believe that the most effective way to address these real-world challenges is continuous threat protection against these attacks. Further enhancements like advanced correlation of indicators of compromise, vulnerability mapping and expanded retrospective security further differentiate Cisco AMP and strengthen security teams' responses before, during and after an attack."