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.

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SAN FRANCISCO, May 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward Networks announced today it has been named the Market Leader in Vulnerability Assessment, Remediation and Management in Cyber Defense Magazine's 12th annual Global InfoSec Awards.

Forward Networks is revolutionizing how large networks are secured and managed by providing actionable, accessible, and insightful data that puts people back in control of the network. Forward Enterprise identifies exactly which vulnerabilities are present in the network and their severity. The platform then delivers a prioritized remediation plan. Forward Enterprise's secure, agentless collection method gathers current device and state information and combines it with Forward's proprietary mathematical model to create a digital twin of the network.

"The volume and complexity of security vulnerabilities and alerts today make it incredibly challenging for organizations to ensure they are not vulnerable," said Chiara Regale, SVP Product and UX, Forward Networks. "Our engineering team is focused on providing security teams with timely, actionable insights to protect their network. This award recognizes the efforts of our team and validates the continued momentum we're experiencing in the market."

"Forward Networks embodies three major features we judges look for to become winners: understanding tomorrow's threats, today, providing a cost-effective solution and innovating in unexpected ways that can help mitigate cyber risk and get one step ahead of the next breach," said Gary S. Miliefsky, Publisher of Cyber Defense Magazine.

The full list of Cyber Defense Magazine's Global InfoSec Award winners can be found here:   http://www.cyberdefenseawards.com/

About Cyber Defense Magazine

Cyber Defense Magazine is the premier source of cyber security news and information for InfoSec professionals in business and government. We are managed and published by and for ethical, honest, passionate information security professionals. Our mission is to share cutting-edge knowledge, real-world stories and awards on the best ideas, products, and services in the information technology industry.  We deliver electronic magazines every month online for free, and special editions exclusively for the RSA Conferences. CDM is a proud member of the Cyber Defense Media Group. Learn more about us at https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com and visit https://www.cyberdefensetv.com and https://www.cyberdefenseradio.com to see and hear some of the most informative interviews of many of these winning company executives.  Join a webinar at https://www.cyberdefensewebinars.com and realize that infosec knowledge is power.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward Networks announced today that it has successfully achieved System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type II Compliance attestation conducted by an independent third party. The completion of the audit demonstrates Forward Networks' long-term commitment to providing its customers transparency, privacy, and data security. Forward Networks achieved SOC 2 Type I Compliance in July of last year.

SOC 2 is an auditing standard developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) to assess the effectiveness of an organization's controls over information security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. SOC 2 Type I compliance measures an organization's systems and controls and evaluates the design and implementation of these controls to ensure they are suitably designed to meet the relevant trust services criteria. SOC 2 Type II takes this a step further, evaluating the design and implementation of controls over a certain period.

Forward's SOC 2 Type II Compliance audit was conducted over 9 months, with no additional recommendations. With SOC 2 Type II Compliance, Forward Networks provides customers with proof of security, confidentiality, and availability across identity and action control, data classification, and backups.

"This is yet another milestone in Forward Networks' security journey, which is focused on protecting customer data and privacy and ensuring trust and transparency," said Matt Honea, Head of Security and Compliance at Forward Networks. "We're working to build a robust, wide-reaching compliance program that meets the needs of our customers across every vertical market. Forward Networks is designed to meet any deployment model, including for on-prem, hybrid, and cloud environments."

Today's network environments are too complex to track by purely manual efforts. With digital twin technology, IT teams can build a virtual model of the production network and use it to validate configurations, simulate changes, and streamline management.

The use of digital twins – digital representations of physical objects or systems – is on the rise. Enterprises can use digital twins to replicate their IT environments, including infrastructure, network equipment, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and then run simulations to test the impact of changes and to optimize performance. They can be used to validate the current state of a network, for example, and test configuration changes, firmware updates, or adjustments to security policies.

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Forward introduces AI Assist to help engineers gain greater insights and reach faster resolutions to their most challenging network issues using natural language

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward Networks has officially launched AI Assist, a groundbreaking generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) feature integrated into its flagship platform, Forward Enterprise. This cutting-edge addition aims to empower NetOps, SecOps, and CloudOps professionals, enabling them to gain comprehensive insights and expedite solutions for their most demanding network challenges through natural language prompts. The announcement coincides with the company's unveiling of its long-term AI strategy.

Recognizing the persistent need for enhanced access to hybrid, multi-cloud network data among engineers, Forward Networks addresses the hurdles posed by vendor diversity and network complexity. AI Assist, available today, facilitates Network Query Engine (NQE) searches using natural language, thus allowing team engineers of varying skill levels to conduct sophisticated network queries with minimal learning curve. Moreover, AI Assist generates natural language explanations for existing queries, fostering improved collaboration and understanding within the team.

Forward Networks is harnessing the collective power of user-generated searches and its extensive NQE library to train its networking large language model (LLM). Because Forward Enterprise collects an unparalleled breadth of cloud and device data, the integration of the networking LLM with Forward's advanced data platform streamlines operations and provides even novice users with advanced insights into network behavior. Leveraging the ease of natural language, AI Assist empowers engineers to quickly assess network behavior and identify potential issues (e.g., non-compliance, troubleshooting). The model's continuous improvement is driven by operator utilization, establishing a solid foundation for upcoming AI features.

"By combining the power of our network digital twin with AI, we make it even easier for engineering and security teams to extract critical insights from their network," said Nikhil Handigol, Co-Founder, Forward Networks. "We are developing the world's leading networking large language model, laying the groundwork for future features that proactively assist engineers, enhance the efficiency and safety of changes, and aid in determining optimal network configurations. Since founding the company just over ten years ago, our passion has continued to grow and drive our commitment to modernize networks. Harnessing the powerful capabilities of AI is integral to achieving our vision."

Forward Networks ensures that the world's most complex and mission-critical networks are secure, agile, and predictable. The platform gathers configuration and L2-L7 state data from network devices and public cloud platforms, creates a mathematical model of the network, and computes all possible traffic paths. Supporting devices from major networking vendors and cloud operators, including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, Forward Enterprise stands out as the go-to solution for large enterprises managing multi-vendor, hybrid-cloud networks.

"In this hyper-connected digital business environment, networks and networking staff are under tremendous pressure to heighten service integrity and capabilities on a continual basis," said IDC's Mark Leary, Research Director – Network Observability and Automation. "IDC research indicates that those organizations that leverage the power of AI across their network infrastructure are driving greater gains in operational efficiency, digital experience, and key financial measurements. Forward Networks' purpose-built networking LLM, coupled with their comprehensive digital twin platform, represents a promising advancement in bolstering network resiliency and responsiveness."

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The term “digital twin” technology, initially referenced with industrial use cases, is gaining popularity. An industrial digital twin is a virtual depiction of a physical product, process, or system within an industrial context like manufacturing. According to Accenture, digital twins “support better decision-making by simulating how assets behave given certain inputs.” The benefits of being able to test conditions and eliminate problems before they occur can’t be overstated in a manufacturing environment; the same digital twin technology can also provide virtual representations of complex enterprise networks. [READ MORE ON DIGITAL IT NEWS]

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward Networks announced today that it has been named to the Fortune Magazine 2023 Cyber 60 List. Fortune compiled this prestigious list of the 60 most successful companies in the cybersecurity space after reviewing a pool of several hundred entries.

Forward Networks is modernizing the way large networks are managed by providing actionable, accessible, and insightful data that puts operators back in control of the network. Forward's advanced software creates a mathematical model, or digital twin, of the network by collecting and analyzing state and configuration data across all network devices and public cloud environments. The digital twin delivers an always-accurate topology, calculates all possible paths within the network, analyzes detailed behavioral information, makes network configuration and behavior searchable and verifiable, and proves security compliance. Forward Networks' digital twin supports devices from all major networking vendors and cloud operators, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

"Robust cybersecurity depends on detailed and accessible network data," said David Erickson, CEO and Co-Founder of Forward Networks. "Several years ago our customers asked us to create features that helped the SecOps team ensure compliance, remediate attacks, and ensure the overall health of their security posture. We've made significant investments in delivering on this request.  Being named to the 2023 Fortune Cyber 60 list is a tremendous honor that validates the security benefits of our network digital twin. We're continuing to develop new security features to protect the network."

Forward Enterprise enables SecOps teams to find misconfigurations and vulnerabilities on hosts and devices before a breach occurs. Using data collected from the network, integration with the NIST database, and integrations with vulnerability scanning and assessment tools, the platform identifies risks and delivers a prioritized remediation plan for SecOps teams. Forward Enterprise's security features include:

• Security Posture Management —Forward Enterprise delivers an always current microsegmentation chart that provides SecOps professionals at-a-glance insight into which zones have full, partial or no connectivity.
  
• Vulnerability Management—Using information from the NIST National Vulnerability Database and various vendors, along with specific device and configuration data collected from the network, Forward Enterprise proactively identifies every device vulnerability and presents information in a prioritized, actionable format. Integrations with tools vulnerability scanners, including Rapid7, Tenable, and Qualys combine known vulnerabilities with device exposure to deliver a custom, prioritized remediation plan.
  
• Incident Response–Forward Enterprise instantly assesses and reports the reach of a compromised host providing teams a detailed understanding of the exposure post-attack. [FM1] Using data already collected by the platform, calculating an exportable blast radius report is as simple as inputting the IP address and clicking a button; the information is also exportable as a .CSV file
  
• Always-On Proof of Compliance and Audit—Using custom verification checks in Forward Enterprise, administrators can regularly scan the network to search for misconfigurations, lack of connectivity, or lack of redundancy to proactively identify and remediate non-compliant configurations before they cause an incident. Snapshots are recorded as evidence of compliance overtime in the event of an audit.

About the Fortune Cyber 60
The Cyber 60 was generated from a list of over 200 private cybersecurity companies based on data about funding rounds and valuation from Pitchbook. The companies selected were surveyed and asked to provide growth rate and revenue data in bands, to indicate their relative strength and success in the market. Publicly accessible reporting and other market data were used to add companies to the Pitchbook list. Respondents were required to provide data in order to be considered for the list. FORTUNE reviewed the data and list selection criteria with Lightspeed to ensure a fair and unbiased process. Some companies that chose not to provide data were considered for inclusion on the final list based on previously reported publicly available information. Lightspeed's Enterprise Investment Committee reviewed the final composition of the list prior to publication, in conjunction with FORTUNE. No private data or preferential treatment was given to Lightspeed portfolio companies.

Forward Enterprise ranks highest for technical capabilities among top 13 vendors

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 GigaOm Radar for Network Validation finds that Forward Networks offers the most robust network validation features and capabilities among the industry's top 13 vendors. GigaOm ranked Forward as exceptional across several key criteria, including end-to-end validation, compliance verification, security verification, hybrid multicloud support and network visualization, among others.

The 2023 GigaOm Radar analyzes 13 vendors' network validation offerings and provides a forward-looking assessment over a 12-to-18-month window. Forward Networks is ranked an "Outperformer" for supporting "a broad range of vendor devices with sophisticated validation and automated remediation capabilities."

Among its strengths, the report cites, "Scaling to over 50,000 network infrastructure devices and complex public cloud deployments, Forward Enterprise's digital twin allows network and security engineers to search the network like a database, trace all possible traffic flows, visualize on-premises and cloud Layer 2, Layer 3, Layer 4, and Layer 7 networks, predict network behavior before pushing changes live, perform forensic analysis, and accelerate troubleshooting."

"We applaud Forward Networks for their network validation capabilities and for the advancements they plan to make in this area over the coming months," said Ivan McPhee, senior industry analyst, GigaOm. "Based on our thorough assessment, Forward remains the top leader and contender in network validation."

Forward Enterprise delivers a digital twin of the network, by collecting state and configuration data across all network devices and cloud deployments (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform). This data is then used to create an always accurate topology (on-prem and multi-cloud), calculate all possible paths within the network, prove compliance, and make network configuration and behavior searchable and verifiable.

"Network validation is critical for ensuring reliability, security, compliance and optimization. It's imperative that enterprises identify the right solution to meet the needs of their environment," said David Erickson, CEO and co-founder, Forward Networks. "We appreciate GigaOm's deep analysis of the most promising solutions in this space and are proud to be ranked as an Outperformer for the second consecutive year."

For more information about the GigaOm Radar Report for Network Validation, visit https://www.forwardnetworks.com/gigaom-radar-for-network-validation/.

PRNewswire

Forward Enterprise Empowers Security Teams to Detect and Rectify Vulnerabilities

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Business Intelligence Group today announced that it has awarded Forward Networks the 2023 Stratus Award in the Security category. This marks the company's second consecutive Stratus Award win and its third Stratus Award overall.

Forward is revolutionizing the way large networks are managed by providing actionable, accessible, and insightful data that puts people back in control of the network. Forward's advanced software delivers a digital twin of the network, by collecting state and configuration data across all network devices and cloud deployments (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform). This data is then used to create an always accurate topology (on-prem and multi-cloud), calculate all possible paths within the network, prove compliance, and make network configuration and behavior searchable and verifiable. Having access to this data empowers security teams to detect and rectify vulnerabilities before they are compromised, and to ensure network segmentation is always in compliance as per business policies.

Forward Enterprise delivers timely, actionable data to SecOps teams enabling them to respond to incidents quickly and effectively, understand their attack surface, verify security postures, and discover and categorize device and endpoint vulnerabilities.

"Accurate, current knowledge of the network and its devices is imperative for SecOps teams striving to protect their company's digital assets," said Chiara Regale, senior vice president of product and user experience, Forward Networks. "Our platform uniquely provides security engineers the data and insight they need to prioritize vulnerability remediation, view their security posture at a glance, prove zero trust and regulatory compliance, and identify non-compliance before there is an incident. We're honored to be recognized as a global leader in cloud computing security by the Stratus Awards for two consecutive years."

"Forward Networks is one of the leaders in the cloud, helping to develop the infrastructure we need to store and host the data and applications driving our society," said Maria Jimenez, Chief Nominations Officer of Business Intelligence Group. "We are so proud to recognize all of the winners in this year's award program."

About Forward Networks

Forward Networks is revolutionizing the way large networks are managed. Forward's advanced software delivers a digital twin of the network, enabling network operators to ensure that the network is secure, reliable, and agile. The platform supports devices from all major networking vendors and cloud operators, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Forward Networks was founded in 2013 by four Stanford Ph.D. graduates and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Investors include MSD Partners, Goldman Sachs, Andreessen Horowitz, Threshold Ventures, Section 32, Omega Venture Partners, and A. Capital.

About Business Intelligence Group

The Business Intelligence Group was founded with the mission of recognizing true talent and superior performance in the business world. Unlike other industry and business award programs, business executives—those with experience and knowledge—judge the programs. The organization's proprietary and unique scoring system selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and then rewards those companies whose achievements stand above those of their peers.

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By Chiara Regale, VP of Product Management

According to Gartner’s 2023 Emerging Technologies and Trend Impact Radar, Digital Twin technology is shown as having a significant impact in the next one to three years, but what exactly does this technology do? The easiest way to think about a digital twin is Google Maps. Not only does the map provide a digital representation of the roadway, but everything along the route; all of the assets that make up the community, the various stores, gas stations, construction projects, crosswalks, schools etc.

Digital twins are commonly used in various industries, including manufacturing, engineering, healthcare, transportation, and smart cities. They enable organizations to gain insights, optimize performance, and make informed decisions about their physical assets or processes...

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