Verizon is aiming to help business customers prevent cyberattacks before they are a problem with its Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) service that identifies and blocks cyberattacks by creating a virtual boundary around networks.
As a scalable software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, Verizon’s SDP service provides preauthenticated, context-aware, secure access to enterprise applications.
By isolating communications between enterprise applications and end-user devices, SDP enables rapid identification and prevention of network-based cyberattacks such as denial of service, connection hijacking, and credential theft.
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What is making services like SDP more relevant is the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend where company employees are using their personal devices to access a company’s critical data.
Despite the convenience mobile and virtual applications bring in terms of enhancing collaboration and productivity, they also increase potential exposure to security threats with each new endpoint. Verizon said SDP helps reduce these risks by making critical applications and resources invisible to everyone until the end users and devices are authenticated and authorized.
What’s also compelling about the SDP service is that it can be deployed in a hybrid IT environment without having to dedicate capital to purchasing network equipment or leasing additional data center resources. By leveraging the workflows currently used in highly classified networks and now modified for use in commercial networks, Verizon’s SDP can be provisioned and managed dynamically. The service also comes with its own built-in managed public key infrastructure (PKI), enabling customers to deploy digital certificates across the enterprise quickly and at low cost.
SDP emerges at a time when cybersecurity threats are on the rise. In its 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), Verizon said that ransomware has increased in prevalence from the 22nd most common variety of malware only three years ago. Specifically, incidents of ransomware, a process where hackers attempt to extort money, rose 50% over the past year.