Cato Networks looks to solve the network security problem
Cato Networks has launched the Cato Cloud, its Network Security as a Service (NSaaS) platform, for the distributed, cloud-centric and mobile-first enterprise.
For decades, the increasingly distributed enterprise network has stretched IT security resources to protect all business locations, applications, and users, Cato Networks says.
Complicating matters even further is the widespread adoption of cloud, mobility, BYOD, and the Internet of Things (IoT). This has proved to dissolve the perimeter, making network security a hyper-complex task, the company says.
On top of this, with applications and data migrating to the cloud, traffic patterns on the network are changing dramatically as users access both physical and cloud resources. Legacy connectivity approaches such as traffic backhauling add latency and negatively impact the user experience for applications like Office 365. However, enabling secure internet access at each branch location is costly and complex to manage, Cato says.
According to Gartner, scarcity of security capability limits the ability of midmarket organisations to achieve a comprehensive assessment of their IT-related risks.
Cloud computing is growing, and there is a critical need to establish access control, data protection and monitoring for cloud workloads, in addition to improving network security.
Implementing security solutions, keeping them up to date, managing configuration changes and handling security events are big challenges for midsize organisations, as they require dedicated technical skills to be continually available. Many midsize organisations have no choice but to outsource some security operations and monitoring. However the ultimate responsibility for security belongs to the organisations.
According to recent research by Spiceworks Voice of IT programme and commissioned by Cato, 57% of survey respondents cited maintenance and upgrade costs as burdensome, and 52% said that the complexity of managing policies for multiple locations was challenging.
Shlomo Kramer, Cato CEO and co-founder, says, "Network security must scale and adapt quickly to support new business requirements and the evolving threat landscape. However, the current appliance-based infrastructure can't keep up and is too expensive and too complex to sustain, especially for mid-sized and resource-constrained companies.
"Cato is creating the next chapter in the evolution of network security by unifying the network and security stack in the Cloud, addressing multiple enterprise challenges and use cases with one turnkey, service-based solution.
The Cato Cloud connects all enterprise network elements: branch locations, the mobile workforce, and physical and cloud data centers into a global, encrypted, and optimised network in the cloud.
With all traffic, both WAN and Internet, consolidated in the cloud, Cato applies a set of security services to secure the traffic regardless of source or destination.
Through a single cloud-based management console, IT administrators and managed service providers (MSPs) have full visibility into the organisational network and can apply a unified policy across all users, locations, data, and applications.
The Cato Cloud is comprised of two complementary layers: the Cato Cloud Network, which is based on a global, geographically distributed network of points of presence (PoPs), and Cato Security Services, a full suite of enterprise-grade network security capabilities delivered through the cloud, such as a next-gen firewall with application control, global VPN, URL filtering, and more.
This integrated platform is managed by Cato's Network and Security Operations Center, a team of dedicated networking and security experts, to ensure maximum service availability, optimal network performance, and highest level of security for our customers.
