Forward Networks’ flagship product, Forward Enterprise, delivers a vendor-agnostic “digital twin” of the network, designed for both cloud and on-prem networks
We are excited to announce that Forward Networks is now a Silver Technology Partner with Tenable, a global leader in cybersecurity and exposure management.
Fig 1: Tenable Tech Partnership website
This partnership highlights our commitment to enhancing network security by integrating with Tenable’s leading vulnerability management solutions to provide a comprehensive and streamlined vulnerability software solution for our joint customers.
Vulnerability scanning is crucial for proactively identifying weaknesses in network devices, hosts, and applications. However, the sheer volume of data generated by these tools can often be overwhelming, making it difficult for security teams to prioritize and remediate the most critical threats. This is where Forward Networks’ digital twin platform comes into play.
The Exposure Analysis feature within the network digital twin platform integrates seamlessly with Tenable’s vulnerability data, transforming unstructured vulnerability data into actionable insights. By leveraging our platform’s advanced network modeling capabilities, security teams can quickly identify which hosts with critical vulnerabilities are accessible from exposure points such as the internet or VPN connections.
Fig 2: Forward Exposure Analysis Description
This creates a layered vulnerability software solution that allows teams to focus on addressing the most pressing threats to their network’s security posture.
Our network digital twin automatically pulls the latest vulnerability reports from Tenable Security Center during regular network data collection, ensuring that the data is always up-to-date without impacting performance.
Fig 3: Integration Architecture
The information is then processed and categorized into three main sections: Exposure Points, Overview, and Vulnerability Report. This structured analysis provides a clear picture of the network’s security status, highlighting the number of vulnerable hosts, their exposure level, and the potential impact of compromised systems.
In addition to providing a comprehensive view of vulnerable hosts, Forward Networks’ digital twin offers detailed information, including IP addresses, risk scores, reachable services, and blast radius analysis. This helps security teams understand not just where the vulnerabilities are, but also their potential impact on critical infrastructure.
Fig 4: Forward Enterprise Exposure Analysis Example
With the integration of Forward Networks and Tenable, organizations can significantly reduce the time and effort required to prioritize and address host vulnerabilities, ensuring that their networks remain secure and compliant. As a Silver Technology Partner, Forward Networks is committed to helping our customers navigate the complexities of network security with the most advanced tools and insights available. Watch this video to see our Tenable integration in action.
Stay tuned for more updates on our collaboration with Tenable, and learn how this partnership can help your organization achieve a stronger, more resilient security posture.
Are you ready to take your network security to the next level? Don't miss our upcoming session where our top engineers will dive into the transformative potential of Network Digital Twins for ensuring audit readiness and compliance for both federal and commercial organizations.
In today's digital landscape, being prepared for audits and meeting Compliance, Certification, and Readiness Inspection (CCRI) standards is more critical than ever. But how can you ensure your network is always up to date and secure without disrupting daily operations? This is where a Network Digital Twin comes into play. It’s a powerful, virtual representation of your network infrastructure that allows you to simulate, analyze, and optimize your systems in real-time, paving the way for seamless compliance and audit readiness.
How a Network Digital Twin can revolutionize your audit and CCRI preparedness – Learn how this technology can help you proactively identify vulnerabilities, optimize configurations, and maintain compliance effortlessly.
Real-world applications and benefits – Discover how federal and commercial organizations are leveraging digital twins to streamline their security processes and stay ahead of regulatory requirements.
Best practices for implementation–Get practical tips on how to integrate a Network Digital Twin into your current infrastructure and start seeing immediate results.
Why You Should Attend:
This talk is perfect for IT professionals, network engineers, and compliance officers looking to enhance their security posture and simplify the complexities of audit and CCRI compliance. Whether you're managing a federal agency's network or working in a commercial environment, this session will provide you with the insights and tools you need to succeed.
The live event is September 26, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific. If you can’t make it to the live event, it will immediately be available on demand.
Network administrators rely on configuration policies to maintain network health, compliance, performance, and security. Adhering to this configuration minimizes risks and ensures business continuity. However, many enterprises experience "configuration drift.” For a global network administration team, config drift is further complicated by distributed teams, time zones, and geographies.
Configuration drift creates significant vulnerabilities and is a frequent cause of security breaches and outages. As such, preventing it is critical to network and security operations teams.
In today’s cybersecurity landscape, Zero Trust is no longer just an option—it’s a necessity. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) both emphasize the importance of this model through comprehensive strategies like the DoD Zero Trust Strategy and Capability Execution Roadmap. These frameworks guide private sector and federal organizations through the complex process of transitioning to a Zero Trust model, where every device, user, and application is verified continuously.
Implementing the complex policies of Zero Trust across large, multi-vendor, and multi-cloud environments can be overwhelming. Forward Networks’ Digital Twin offers a powerful solution to streamline and simplify the implementation of these guidelines.
Join us for a technical demonstration showcasing 5 ways a digital twin simplifies implementing and enforcing a zero trust architecture. Our technical solutions architects, Scot Wilson and Sean Deveci, will showcase how organizations can leverage a network digital twin to implement and verify Zero Trust architecture effectively.
Key topics include securing devices, managing applications, and automating compliance processes across network environments. Forward Enterprise's platform offers vital visibility, proactive analytics, and automation to streamline Zero Trust compliance for both public and private sectors.
P.S. Don’t worry if you can’t make the live event; the session will immediately be available on-demand.
In the rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, the sheer volume of Common Vulnerability and Exposure (CVE) notices has become a daunting challenge for SecOps teams. In 2023 alone, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued 28,901 CVE notices, reflecting the growing complexity and intensity of potential threats. Compounding this challenge, 74% of security breaches were found to be the result of human error, emphasizing the critical need for robust, automated systems to manage vulnerabilities effectively.
Given this context, how can organizations manage the overwhelming number of CVEs and ensure their networks remain secure? The answer lies in leveraging a network digital twin—a powerful tool that offers unprecedented visibility, accuracy, and efficiency in managing and mitigating vulnerabilities.
Understanding the Challenges of CVE Management
SecOps teams are tasked with the immense responsibility of safeguarding networks against a continuous onslaught of vulnerabilities. Each CVE issued by NIST requires careful evaluation, prioritization, and remediation. However, the complexity of modern networks, which often include tens of thousands of devices from multiple vendors, makes this process increasingly difficult. Traditional methods of vulnerability management are becoming insufficient, leading to a backlog of unaddressed CVEs that leave networks vulnerable to attacks.
Even organizations with dedicated teams for CVE management struggle to keep up. The process of scanning networks for vulnerabilities, identifying affected devices, and determining the severity of each CVE can take days, if not weeks. This delay creates a window of opportunity for attackers, who can exploit these vulnerabilities before they are patched.
How a Network Digital Twin Transforms CVE Compliance
A network digital twin, such as the one offered by Forward Networks, provides a game-changing approach to CVE compliance. By creating a comprehensive mathematical model of an organization’s entire network—spanning physical, virtual, and cloud environments—a digital twin offers real-time visibility into every device, configuration, and traffic path.
Here’s how a network digital twin supports CVE compliance:
Automated Vulnerability Detection: The digital twin integrates with NIST’s National Vulnerability Database and vendor databases, automatically scanning your network for known vulnerabilities. This automation reduces the time and effort required to identify CVEs, allowing SecOps teams to focus on remediation rather than detection.
Prioritized Remediation: Not all CVEs pose the same level of risk. A network digital twin enables SecOps teams to quickly assess the severity and potential impact of each CVE by providing detailed insights into affected devices, their configurations, and the criticality of their roles within the network. This allows teams to prioritize remediation efforts, focusing on the most critical vulnerabilities first.
Real-Time Network Insights: One of the key advantages of a digital twin is its ability to simulate network behavior. SecOps teams can use the digital twin to predict how a vulnerability could be exploited and which parts of the network would be affected. This capability is crucial for understanding the “blast radius” of an infected host and ensuring that remediation efforts are both precise and effective.
Efficiency and Time Savings: By automating the detection and prioritization of CVEs, a network digital twin significantly reduces the manual effort required by SecOps teams. Forward Networks reports that users of their digital twin platform save an average of 20 hours per month on CVE management. The time saved allows teams to address vulnerabilities more quickly and frees up resources for other critical security tasks.
Continuous Compliance Monitoring: Compliance isn’t a one-time task—it requires ongoing vigilance. A network digital twin continuously monitors the network for changes that could introduce new vulnerabilities or impact compliance. This ensures that security teams are always aware of the network’s state and can take action as soon as new risks are detected.
Real-World Impact and Success Stories
The benefits of using a network digital twin for CVE compliance are not just theoretical. In practice, organizations that have adopted this technology have seen significant improvements in their security posture. For instance, during a critical vulnerability announcement by Cisco in 2020, organizations using Forward Networks’ digital twin were able to identify affected devices and take corrective action within hours, rather than the days or weeks that would have been required using traditional methods.
Conclusion: Embracing the Future of Network Security
As the threat landscape continues to evolve, the tools and strategies used by SecOps teams must also advance. A network digital twin offers a powerful solution to the challenges of CVE compliance, providing the visibility, accuracy, and efficiency needed to protect today’s complex networks. By integrating this technology, organizations can stay ahead of potential threats, reduce the risk of breaches, and ensure their networks remain secure. To learn more about how a network digital twin resolves CVE issues, join our joint webinar featuring Michael Ell, SVP of Product for Empowered, and Steve Allie, VP of Technical Services at Forward Networks, on September 18, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific. Click here to register or view the event on demand after it airs.
If you’re ready to transform your CVE management and enhance your organization’s security posture, consider exploring how a network digital twin can benefit your SecOps team. Request a demo today to see the power of this technology in action.
Tool sprawl creates inefficiency and security risks while diminishing network reliability and performance.
Tool sprawl is an expensive aspect of technical debt. IDC recently found that 43% of organizations doing business in the Americas have 500 or more software applications in their portfolios today (Application Services — Worldwide Regions, 2023, IDC #US50490416, April 2023). In the area of monitoring and observability tools alone, 50% of companies reported having between 11 and 40 tools.
How have enterprises accumulated so many monitoring and observability tools?
Networks have become increasingly complex and difficult to manage. Comprising tens to hundreds of thousands of devices from multiple vendors and running millions of lines of configuration, they serve as the brittle backbone of the modern economy.
In response to this complexity, IT leaders have accumulated software tools designed to address specific challenges, such as inventory management, security monitoring, network observability, vulnerability assessments, and more. Often, new tools are added without retiring the old ones, leading to a disjointed toolbox that lacks a cohesive design.
What are the problems caused by tool sprawl?
Consider the difference between walking into a cluttered neighborhood mechanic’s shop and stepping into a pristine Formula 1 team garage. The mechanic may have acquired tools to solve various customer problems over time, but when their immediate purpose was fulfilled, the tools were simply tucked away, creating clutter. In contrast, an F1 garage is meticulously organized, with every tool in its place, working together for a common purpose. This analogy illustrates the contrast between a disorganized toolbox and a well-integrated platform.
In an enterprise environment, dozens of tools may collect data and generate reports, but they don’t communicate with each other and often present data differently. This creates silos and confusion. Imagine two people trying to build a house — one using the metric system, the other using imperial measurements. Every action requires a conversion, leading to miscommunication and costly mistakes.
Tool sprawl can result in many challenges, including the following:
Inflated operational costs: Overlapping tools incur unnecessary expenses, including acquisition costs, subscription fees, training, service charges, troubleshooting, and maintenance. One CIO admitted they have no idea how many tools they have; the company simply pays the bill when it arrives.
Wasted time: Effective utilization of tools demands thorough training, hands-on experience, and regular usage. As the number of tools increases, your IT staff spends less time mastering each one. The resulting lack of proficiency can complicate workflows and decrease productivity. Switching between multiple tools and attempting to correlate results can compromise the integrity of IT services and diminish staff satisfaction and retention.
Increased risk of errors: More tools mean a higher risk of errors in data entry, reporting, and other processes, which can impact the reliability of IT operations.
Inflated maintenance costs: The more tools an IT department uses, the greater the burden of maintaining them, leading to increased technical debt.
Data silos: Tool sprawl creates data silos that fragment IT teams. Working from competing versions of the truth wastes time, increases frustration, and introduces more opportunities for error.
Increased attack surface: Each additional tool potentially introduces new vulnerabilities, increasing the attack surface for cyber threats.
Risk of non-compliance: Using multiple tools for the same function — often with different data sets — can make compliance more complicated. Organizations that can't prove compliance are at higher risk of fines and other legal consequences.
How does tool sprawl impact troubleshooting?
When tool sprawl occurs, troubleshooting network issues becomes significantly more time-consuming. During critical network incidents (P0/P1), dozens of highly skilled and costly engineers are called into emergency sessions. It’s not uncommon for conference bridges to remain open for over 24 hours, with senior engineers entirely focused on resolving the crisis at hand. However, if each team presents data in different formats or interpretations, the initial, time-consuming challenge is to establish the true network status. Meanwhile, regular engineering tasks are put on hold, exacerbating the situation.
How do you tackle tool sprawl?
The first step in addressing tool sprawl is conducting a comprehensive inventory of all tools currently in use across the network. Determine which tools are used regularly and decommission those that are not. Tools are often abandoned after purchase because they either fail to deliver on their promises or are too complex to use. Additionally, when new tools are introduced, the older ones are often retained during a transition period. If not properly decommissioned, they become "zombie" tools that clutter the network.
After taking inventory, assess the tools in use to identify overlapping capabilities. Do you need all of the tools currently implemented?
In a recent Spiceworks article, Steve Allie, Vice President of Technical Services at Forward Networks, emphasized the importance of unifying disparate data sources and workflows into a centralized platform. This approach eliminates redundant tools and processes, reducing IT management costs and improving network visibility. A more holistic view of the network environment can eliminate long-standing blind spots and empower IT teams to make more informed decisions collaboratively.
A network digital twin is capable of replacing multiple single use tools and providing always accurate network information to the entire IT department.
What is a network digital twin?
A network digital twin is a digital model of the network that makes network data accessible and actionable to ensure the network behaves as expected and is secure. The platform gathers configuration and L2-L7 state data from network devices and public cloud platforms to create a mathematical model of the network. This data is then used to create an always accurate topology (on-prem and multi-cloud) and inventory, calculate all possible paths within the network, analyze detailed behavioral information, and make network configuration and behavior searchable and verifiable.
Forward Networks’ digital twin supports devices from all major networking vendors and cloud operators, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, enabling network operators to ensure that the network is secure, reliable, and agile.
Because the platform supports so many use cases (see image), it empowers IT leaders to decrease the number of tools in use and eliminate conflicting network data by becoming the single source of truth.
How does a network digital twin reduce tool sprawl?
Forward Networks helps reduce tool sprawl by offering a unified platform that acts as a "digital twin" of your entire network that becomes a single source of truth for NetOps, SecOps, and CloudOps. By providing end-to-end visibility and actionable insights across on-premises and multi-cloud environments, Forward Enterprise reduces the complexity and time involved in troubleshooting and network management. This approach not only streamlines operations but also reduces the risks associated with inconsistent data formats and analysis, which often plague organizations using multiple tools.
If your organization is considering reducing the number of tools in use and would like to foster more collaboration between NetOps, SecOps, and CloudOps, request a personalized technical session with a Forward Networks Engineer where your specific concerns will be discussed, and you’ll see firsthand how a digital twin can tackle network complexity and reduce tool sprawl for your organization. If you’re interested in seeing the platform in action but not yet ready for a meeting, visit the demo series on BrightTALK.
Automation has transformed the network management landscape, making it faster, more efficient, and less prone to human error. By automating routine functions like software upgrades and device provisioning, network teams can focus on more strategic initiatives such as digital transformation, security initiatives and disaster recovery plans. As a result, network automation has led to faster service delivery and lower operational costs, becoming essential for organizations to remain competitive.
However, automation is not without risks. One of the biggest concerns shared among seasoned engineers is that automation can introduce more issues than it resolves, especially in large-scale networks. A single mistake in an automated script can be replicated across thousands of devices, causing widespread disruption. For example, a bank’s network automation system might incorrectly configure a security policy, causing widespread outages and financial losses. An automated firewall rule update could inadvertently block essential traffic, resulting in service disruptions.
In today's rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, managing Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) is a critical yet increasingly complex task. As organizations scale their digital footprints, the sheer volume and diversity of vulnerabilities they must contend with have grown exponentially. This surge in potential threats, compounded by the sophisticated tactics employed by cyber adversaries, makes CVE management a required but complicated endeavor.
The Complexity of CVE Management
One of the primary challenges in managing CVEs is the vast number of vulnerabilities that must be addressed. Even the most well-resourced organizations struggle to patch every vulnerability, often leading to a backlog that increases their exposure to potential attacks. This issue is exacerbated by the fact that not all vulnerabilities are created equal—some pose a much higher risk than others, requiring a nuanced approach to prioritization.
Organizations frequently find themselves overwhelmed by the volume of vulnerabilities identified through regular scans. This overload can lead to "alert fatigue," where the constant influx of threat notifications causes teams to become desensitized, potentially missing critical issues that require immediate attention. Moreover, without a clear prioritization strategy, teams may expend valuable resources on low-risk vulnerabilities, while more severe threats go unaddressed.
Challenges in Coordination and Visibility
Another significant challenge in CVE management is the coordination between various teams and the visibility into all assets within an organization. As organizations grow and their infrastructure becomes more complex, maintaining an up-to-date inventory of all assets—servers, endpoints, cloud instances, IoT devices—becomes increasingly difficult. Without this visibility, it's nearly impossible to ensure that all vulnerabilities are identified and addressed in a timely manner.
The lack of coordination among cross-functional teams can lead to gaps in vulnerability management. For example, the security team may identify a vulnerability, but if the operations team is unable to locate the device, the organization remains exposed.
Implementing Effective Solutions
To overcome these challenges, organizations should focus on several key strategies:
Inventory Management: Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date inventory of all assets is foundational to effective CVE management. This requires close collaboration between security, IT, and operations teams to ensure comprehensive visibility and accountability.
Automated Verification Checks: Leveraging automation can significantly enhance the efficiency of vulnerability management processes. Forward Enterprise can help reduce the manual effort required to identify and patch vulnerabilities by providing a prioritized remediation plan, allowing teams to focus on more strategic tasks.
CVE Identification with Prioritized Remediation: Regular scanning and monitoring of assets ensure that new vulnerabilities are quickly identified and addressed. This proactive approach helps organizations stay ahead of potential threats and reduce their overall risk exposure.
Conclusion
CVE management is a complex and challenging aspect of cybersecurity that requires a strategic, risk-based approach. By prioritizing vulnerabilities based on their potential impact, improving asset visibility, and fostering coordination between teams, organizations can more effectively manage the ever-growing threat landscape.
For a deeper dive into effective vulnerability management strategies, we invite you to read this post. This comprehensive resource offers actionable insights and best practices to help your organization enhance its cybersecurity posture and reduce risk.
In our border and perimeter free world, connected infrastructure becomes more and more complex. Security tools need to keep up by adjusting to the new application delivery models and adapting to the shifting threat environment. That's why the recent update to the ISO 27001 compliance standard is so pivotal — it introduces new controls around data security, DevOps, and network security to help future-proof our cybersecurity strategies.
As an IT and security professional, I've been closely examining the changes in the ISO 27001:2022 compliance framework, and I wanted to share some of my key observations. The new version of the standard consolidates the previous 114 controls into 93, organizing them into four main categories: organizational, people, physical, and technological. It also introduces important new focus areas like threat intelligence, secure coding and DevOps security, cloud security, and data leakage prevention. I recently published a white paper that provides a detailed overview of the updated framework.
For those who are just embarking on our ISO 27001 journey, these enhancements can help build a robust, adaptable ISMS (Information Security Management System) from the ground up. For those who plan to go through the audit and re-certification in the coming months, it's an opportunity to reevaluate existing processes and leverage new capabilities to drive even greater business value. It is important to note that any re-certification obtained after May 2024 must follow the new ISO 27000 standard.
One area that I found particularly compelling is the standard's emphasis on network security controls. Managing and controlling our networks to protect the information systems and the applications that rely on them is crucial. This includes establishing clear security features, service levels, and management requirements for all network services — whether in-house or outsourced. Segregating networks to isolate different information services, users, and systems is another critical control.
The ISO 27001 standard's risk-driven approach is what I find most compelling. Rather than simply checking compliance boxes, it encourages security professionals to proactively identify and address threats to information assets. Through regular internal audits and management reviews, security professionals can assess the maturity of ISMS, make data-driven decisions about where to invest resources, and continually refine the security posture.
Ultimately, ISO 27001 provides a comprehensive, adaptable blueprint for safeguarding our most vital information assets. By embracing its risk-driven approach and leveraging the right tools and technologies, we can not only achieve and maintain compliance, but also enhance our overall operational efficiency, stakeholder confidence, and resilience in the face of evolving cyber threats.
It is a good framework for navigating the complexities of our digital landscape and maintaining robust governance. ISO 27000 certification proves to your customers that you take compliance, security, and privacy seriously. ISO 27000 can help ensure continuous monitoring and can serve as a foundation of achieving compliance with other frameworks, such as CIS benchmark, SOC 2 Type2, FedRamp, and others, as there is significant control overlap.
I encourage all of my peers to explore how the 2022 updates to ISO 27001 can strengthen their organization's security strategy and support their long-term growth.
In today's rapidly evolving IT landscape, effective change management is crucial for maintaining network stability and performance, but many organizations lack a consistent change process. Lack of process often leads to unintended consequences, such as outages and performance degradation. A network digital twin offers a transformative solution to these challenges by streamlining change management processes and providing pre- and post-change verification to enhance operational efficiency.
Challenges in Traditional Change Management
Traditional change management processes are labor-intensive and error-prone. Network operators must manually capture pre- and post-change details through CLI access, upload data from local computers back to tickets, and spend hours on verification checks. This manual approach is not only time-consuming but also susceptible to human error, resulting in inconsistent change implementations and validation processes. The lack of automation and standardization often leads to missed changes and validation steps, causing network instability and requiring extensive troubleshooting
Advantages of a Network Digital Twin
A network digital twin, like the one offered by Forward Networks, addresses these challenges by creating a virtual replica of the network. This digital twin allows for verification of network changes and their impact on the network, and empowers organizations to enforce consistent change processes, significantly improving efficiency and accuracy.
In the IDC Business Value Solution Brief,The Business Value of Forward Networks, (US52128624, June 2024), a financial services customer stated, “Our organization wanted to get better change prediction and change assurance overall. We needed a mechanism to make sure our policy matched the control points in our network. Forward Networks delivered a model, a graph of the network, illustrating where the control points are.”
By streamlining change management with Forward Networks, another financial services company reduced change-related outages from 15 in six months to 2 in the following twelve months. Forward Networks delivers several change-related benefits including:
Automated Data Collection and Analysis: The digital twin automatically collects pre- and post-change network status, enabling engineers to validate connectivity and ensure compliance. This eliminates the need for manual data capture and reduces the risk of errors. By automatically parsing device information and scheduling collections defined by change windows, the digital twin provides comprehensive data for analysis and verification.
Consistent Change Implementation: With a digital twin, network engineers can create standardized workspaces for specific changes, such as OS upgrades or the specific devices being changed. Engineers can use workspaces to share predefined checkouts and verifications, ensuring that every change is implemented and verified consistently. Engineers can simply follow a script, reducing the likelihood of errors and ensuring uniformity across different environments.
Improved Visibility and Troubleshooting: The digital twin offers enhanced visibility into network configurations and changes. Engineers can quickly identify misconfigurations or inconsistencies, such as MTU mismatches, which can cause performance issues. By providing a detailed view of the network state, the digital twin facilitates faster troubleshooting and resolution of problems, reducing downtime and improving network reliability.
Streamlined Change Approval and Rollback: The digital twin streamlines the change approval process by providing management with detailed verification reports and connectivity checks. This increases confidence in the change process and reduces the need for extensive post-change troubleshooting. Additionally, in the rare event that a change needs to be rolled back, the digital twin provides diffs which call out the changes made, simplifying the process.
A network digital twin revolutionizes change management by automating data collection, standardizing processes, and enhancing visibility. This technology not only reduces the workload for network engineers but also improves network stability and performance. Organizations looking to enhance their change management processes should consider integrating a network digital twin into their IT strategy.
