NETWORKS

Cyber Situational Awareness Extends to Software-defined Networks (SDN)
 
Lumeta Corporation has joined Juniper Networks SDN Technology Partner Program. The partnership will allow for the  integration of Lumeta’s IPsonar ESI (Enterprise Security Intelligence) solution for network discovery and visibility with Juniper Networks Contrail, a standards-based, highly scalable network virtualization and intelligence solution for software-defined networks (SDN).
 
Contrail’s network virtualization solution, in operation with the OpenStack or CloudStack orchestrators, includes an open, standards-based SDN controller that virtualizes the network to enable faster automation and orchestration of hybrid cloud environments, as well as elastic service chaining of IP-based network and security services like Lumeta’s IPsonar ESI.
 
As organizations move services and functions to virtualized environments , the partnership between Lumeta and Juniper will enable them to test the security posture of their virtualized networks within an ever-changing SDN environment. IPsonar ESI will continuously discover the flows, including cloud connectivity, within a network. IPsonar ESI will also reveal unauthorized connections between a network and another network, sub-net, or the Internet (network leaks), and determine whether access is outbound, inbound or both.
 
“By working with Lumeta to integrate the IPsonar ESI Collection Platform with the Juniper Networks Contrail software, we enable real-time network discovery, topology mapping, and network leak discovery for our customers,” said Aruna Ravichandran, vice president, marketing and strategy, Software Solutions Division at Juniper Networks.
 
Cloud computing systems are helping companies respond faster to increasingly uncertain market conditions. Companies are switching to SDN because the cloud and server virtualization demand more agility in network operations.  With SDN, the network can quickly adapt to changing business requirements, and new applications and devices can be provisioned and scaled faster than ever before. The SDN paradigm of centralized control tells virtual and physical switches and routers how to move traffic flows on the network in dynamic proactively constructed virtual overlay networks. This is especially helpful in a cloud computing multi-tenant architecture because it allows the network administrator to manage traffic loads in a flexible and more efficient manner oriented to their IT workflows.
 
An SDN network management strategy offers flexibility and resilience at a reduced operating cost. However, as new connections are made to the enterprise network across the globe and throughout the day, they bring with them unique security issues, potentially reducing network infrastructure visibility and necessitating the real-time gathering of network information and the creation of actionable intelligence.
 
“Juniper's vision for SDN through the Contrail family embraces open standards-based IP solutions,” said Matt Webster, CTO at Lumeta.  “We are looking forward to working with Juniper to expand options for our clients as they move to the open, cloud and virtualized network environments and to keep those clients in a state of continuous cyber situational awareness through the use of IPsonar ESI.”
 
IPsonar ESI provides cyber situational awareness within an enterprise using a unique set of hybrid techniques that includes active discovery as well as passive data collection and system integration, producing  a comprehensive view of the enterprise. This view enables organizations to visualize, track and monitor changes in their environment in real-time. This hybrid approach detects new devices, connections and paths on the network, visualizing the routes as they appear and highlighting newly attached devices on traditional as well as software-defined networks.