Cisco taking more ‘integrated and holistic’ approach to network security

SAN FRANCISCO – As the network security landscape changes worldwide at an increasingly fast (and dangerous) pace, Cisco argues that we need to take a new approach towards the big trends affecting the IT industry.

Speaking at Cisco Security Media Day on Monday afternoon, Cisco’s new senior vice president of its Security and Government group, Chris Young, offered details about the future of Cisco Security.

Young commenced by citing three “mega-trends” affecting security right now: mobility, the cloud, and sophisticated threats to individuals.

The common thread among all of these is the network, as Young posited that Cisco is in a “unique position” here to meet the needs and endpoints of all three of these topics.

According to Young, the network sources all data, handles all devices, routes all requests, controls all flows, sees all traffic, shapes all streams, and touches all users.

“The network is going to be the only place where we can solve tomorrow’s security problems,” said Young.

One of Cisco’s solutions tackling these issues is Cisco’s SecureX technology, a context-aware, network-centric security framework that debuted last year.

Overall, the core themes behind SecureX are leveraging visibility, context and control across the infrastructure for every customer in the marketplace.

Longer term, Cisco is planning to take an integrated and holistic, network-based approach across Cisco architectures.

“It’s about taking the power of what we’re going to deliver to you,” Young explained, “and bringing that into Cisco’s core architectures,” whether it be directed at products for enterprise customers or service providers.