Identity Defined Security - A New Paradigm for Enterprise Security

Cloud, IoT and APIs are creating massive complexity that traditional modes of security aren't equipped to handle. Fortunately, progressive companies like Google and Cisco are getting vocal about the role identity will play in securing the modern enterprise, effectively putting identity in the spotlight. Furthermore, the formalization of what it means to move identity to the center, makes the concept of Identity Defined Security a reality.

The time is ripe for this paradigm shift.

The modern enterprise workforce is no longer confined to a desk tied to a trusted network. More often than not, employees are getting their work done on the go from home, in a coffee shop, on the train or in the airport. Increasingly the applications that you, your employees and customers rely on exist outside the corporate network. You use SaaS applications, deploy internal apps to AWS and use Office 365 in Azure. Add Internet of Things to the mix, and you have a new layer of complexity with device-to-device interactions from millions and even billions of smart connected devices elevating the scale to new proportions.

Traditional security was based on the notion that if you put up a secure perimeter, you could keep the bad guys out. But, as your users, their devices, and the applications they need access to move outside the safe and cozy confines of the corporate network, that paradigm fails and a new approach is needed. Google recently declared that the concept of putting a perimeter around a trusted network is flawed because no firewall is impervious and when someone penetrates it, they have relatively easy access to anything and everything.

We need to be prepared to secure corporate data at scale without compromising productivity or user experience.

What's most important in this situation is that the right people get access to the right things, from any device and any location. We call this Identity Defined Security. It's built on six design principles that meet modern security complexities and scale to address future challenges:

1. All identities - Designed to support workforce, customer and partner use cases
2. Federated architecture - It should be assumed that applications, devices and users are in different domains
3. Built on standards - Ensures a highly secure solution that meets future demands
4. Web, mobile and API - Centralized policy management for access to web, mobile and APIs
5. Internet scale - High levels of automation are necessary to scale to meet IoT demands
6. Flexible deployment - Deployed the way the enterprise needs it, in the cloud, on premise or as a service, or all of the above

In today's world we are mobile, live and work in the cloud, and are always connected which accelerates security risk. Bigger and stronger borders are not the answer because there is no simple perimeter. Is identity at the center of your security strategy? Click here to learn more about how Identity Defined Security secures our borderless world.