article - Forward Networks

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...

[READ MORE on THE FAST MODE]

PRNewswire

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward Networks announced today it has successfully achieved System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type 1 Compliance. The completion of the audit demonstrates Forward Network's commitment to transparency, privacy, and data security for customers.

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 1 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.

With SOC 2 compliance, Forward Networks can provide customers with confidence that their data is protected. For this compliance audit process, Forward Networks enlisted a professional auditor, Laika Compliance LLC, and was also able to leverage its own Forward Enterprise Platform to ensure key trust criteria in Security, Confidentiality, and Availability were included in the audit process.

"Forward Networks has long prioritized protection of customer data and offering trust and transparency," said Matt Honea, Head of Security and Compliance, Forward Networks. "From the onset, our platform was designed to collect network data while protecting our customers' privacy. Achieving SOC 2 Type I certification is an important milestone that demonstrates our commitment. While we are proud of this achievement, we'll continue to work towards further certification milestones to provide our global customers the assurance that their data and networks are safe when they work with us."

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.

[READ PRESS RELEASE on PR NEWSWIRE]

From Gestalt IT

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are common occurrences in business. After the ink dries on a deal, IT network and security teams embark on the challenging task of welding two different parts into a single whole.

Understanding how both parties’ networks are built and run is the first order of business to joining them and gaining value from the merger. Forward Networks’ core ability to build a digital twin of an environment and layer additional features on top of it provides a way to smooth the path to unity...[KEEP READING on Gestalt IT]

PRNewswire

Forward Enterprise Also Wins Silver Globee® Disruptor Award in the Cybersecurity Cloud/SaaS Category

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward Networks continues to gain recognition as an industry leader for its network digital twin technology. Recently, Forward Enterprise was named the Best SaaS Solution by the 2023 Cloud Security Awards and won a Silver Globee® Disruptor Award in the Cybersecurity Cloud/SaaS category.

Forward is revolutionizing the way large networks are managed and secured by providing accessible and insightful data that puts people back in control of the network. Through its advanced software that delivers a digital twin of the network, network operators can visualize the network, confirm policy compliance, verify security posture and simplify network management.

"Security teams are hindered by a lack of visibility into network topology, exposure and behavior, which is forcing them to manually stitch together data from multiple tools as they look to limit exposure - this is an ineffective approach to a mission-critical problem," said David Erickson, CEO and co-founder, Forward Networks. "We continue to gain momentum as CISOs recognize the imperative need for network visibility and actionable insights that empower their teams to be more proactive about protecting their data, and that's just a sliver of the benefits our digital twin technology delivers."

By collecting, parsing and analyzing information on all devices in the network and their behavior, Forward creates an always-current single source of truth that provides security professionals insight into network topology, configuration and behavior. This information takes the pain out of critical but tedious and time-consuming tasks like identifying and remediating CVEs that impact the network, determining the blast radius of a compromised host, understanding endpoint vulnerabilities and proving the security policy is being enforced. Forward's platform supports devices from all major networking vendors and cloud operators, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

For more information on the benefits of Forward's network digital twin technology, visit: https://nl1g1e2381-staging.onrocket.site/what-is-a-digital-twin/.

[READ PRESS RELEASE on PR NEWSWIRE]

From Gestalt IT

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, maintaining a robust and secure network infrastructure is crucial for businesses. Network observability – which is the ability to gather updates with each collection contextual data and draw out valuable inference – plays a fundamental role in ensuring secure network operations.

However, achieving observability is especially challenging in multi-cloud environments, where disparate cloud providers offer varying levels of visibility... [KEEP READING on Gestalt IT]

PRNewswire

Forward Networks Wins Hot Company in Cloud Security Award in 11th Annual Global InfoSec Awards

SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward Networks announced today it has been recognized with the Hot Company in Cloud Security Award from Cyber Defense Magazine's 2023 Global InfoSec Awards. The company is revolutionizing the way large networks are managed through its advanced software that delivers a "digital twin" of the network, enabling network operators to visualize the network, confirm policy compliance, and simplify network management. The platform supports devices from all major networking vendors and cloud operators, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

Forward Networks is the only company that provides an integrated view of the entire hybrid multi-cloud network with the ability to drill down to single devices or instances. This single source of truth provides NOC and SOC engineers the data and insight needed to ensure security policies are enforced and the network is reliable. By collecting and parsing information on all devices in the network and their behavior, Forward is taking the pain out of critical but tedious and time consuming tasks like identifying and remediating CVEs that impact the network, identifying the blast radius of a compromised host, understanding endpoint vulnerabilities and proving the security posture is being enforced as intended.

"We're honored to receive the Hot Company in Cloud Security award from Cyber Defense Magazine's Global InfoSec Awards," said David Erickson, CEO and co-founder, Forward Networks. "This award continues to build upon Forward's recent momentum as we achieved 139% year-over-year growth last year and raised a $50M Series D in January. We're focused on providing network and security teams alike with the tools they need to be successful, both in the cloud and on-premises."

Global InfoSec judges, all CISSP, FMDHS, CEH, certified security professionals, voted based on their independent review of submitted materials and were looking for best of breed, next generation InfoSec solutions.

"We scoured the globe looking for cybersecurity innovators that could make a huge difference and potentially help turn the tide against the exponential growth in cyber-crime. Forward Networks is absolutely worthy of this coveted award and consideration for deployment in your environment," said Yan Ross, Editor of Cyber Defense Magazine.

The full list of 2023 Cyber Defense Magazine Global InfoSec Award winners can be found here: http://www.cyberdefenseawards.com/

About CDM InfoSec Awards
This is Cyber Defense Magazine's tenth year of honoring InfoSec innovators from around the Globe. Our submission requirements are for any startup, early stage, later stage, or public companies in the INFORMATION SECURITY (INFOSEC) space who believe they have a unique and compelling value proposition for their product or service. Learn more at www.cyberdefenseawards.com.

About Cyber Defense Magazine
Cyber Defense Magazine is the premier source of cyber security news and information for InfoSec professions 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.

[READ PRESS RELEASE on PR NEWSWIRE]

PRNewswire

Forward Enterprise Recognized for Exceptional Innovation

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward Networks announced today that TMC, a global, integrated media company, has awarded Forward Enterprise a 2023 Product of the Year Award, presented by Cloud Computing Magazine.

Forward Networks is revolutionizing the way large enterprise networks are managed, offering a "single source of truth" for network, cloud, and security engineering teams across all major networking hardware vendors and cloud providers. Using a proprietary mathematical model, Forward Enterprise provides unprecedented vendor-agnostic visibility into the security posture, network topology, and behavior of the world's largest networks – resulting in more secure and reliable networks with reduced outages. Forward Enterprise's secure, agentless collection method gathers current device and state information and creates a "digital twin" of the network that enables network operators to verify intent, predict network behavior, and prevent outages.

"Forward is dedicated to delivering innovative digital twin technology that provides our customers invaluable insights into their network behavior," said David Erickson, CEO and co-founder, Forward Networks. "We achieved 139% year-over-year growth last year and raised $50M in Series D funding in January. Recognition such as this Product of the Year Award and growth in customer acquisitions affirm that our software delivers extraordinary value to our customers."

Forward Enterprise uses a mathematical model to build a digital twin of the entire hybrid, multi-cloud network. The digital twin provides networking and security professionals unparalleled insight into the network and its vulnerabilities to help organizations manage their attack surface, mitigate vulnerabilities, and ensure enforcement of their security policy.

"Congratulations to Forward Networks for being honored with a Cloud Computing Product of the Year Award," said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. "Forward Enterprise is truly an innovative product and is amongst the best solutions available within the past twelve months that facilitates business-transforming cloud computing and communications. I look forward to continued excellence from Forward Networks in 2023 and beyond."

About Cloud Computing Magazine
Cloud Computing magazine is the industry's definitive source for all things cloud - from public, community, hybrid and private cloud to security and business continuity, and everything in between. This quarterly magazine published by TMC assesses the most important developments in cloud computing not only as they relate to IT, but to the business landscape as a whole.

About TMC
Through education, industry news, live events and social influence, global buyers rely on TMC's content-driven marketplaces to make purchase decisions and navigate markets. As a result, leading technology vendors turn to TMC for unparalleled branding, thought leadership and lead generation opportunities. Our in-person and online events deliver unmatched visibility and sales prospects for all participants. Through our custom lead generation programs, we provide clients with an ongoing stream of leads that turn into sales opportunities and build databases. Additionally, we bolster brand reputations with the millions of impressions from display advertising on our news sites and newsletters. Making TMC a 360-degree marketing solution, we offer comprehensive event and road show management services and custom content creation with expertly ghost-crafted blogs, press releases, articles and marketing collateral to help with SEO, branding, and overall marketing efforts. For more information about TMC and to learn how we can help you reach your marketing goals, please visit www.tmcnet.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, @tmcnet .

[READ PRESS RELEASE on PR NEWSWIRE]

By Fabrizio Maccioni, Director of Technical Marketing, Forward Networks

Closed loop verification may be the answer to the threats and vulnerabilities that plague network automation. Fabrizio Maccioni, director of technical marketing at Forward Networks, takes a closer look at how your network automation journey risks could be tackled better with closed loop verification.

Not too long ago, IT professionals physically connected to network devices for upgrades and changes. Imagine trying to physically go to every device on your network, plug in and manually push an update. It’s obviously an impractical and unaffordable proposition that would require a veritable army of IT professionals and weeks, especially for organizations with data centers spread around the globe. Undoubtedly devices would be missed, and other mistakes would be made, increasing the risk of outages or vulnerabilities...

[READ MORE on SPICEWORKS]

By Kyt Dotson, SiliconANGLE

Network operations startup Forward Networks Inc. announced today it has raised $50 million in new funding to grow its unique offering that improves enterprise networks by creating “digital twins” of them.

Digital twins are a type of simulation, usually describing real-world objects simulated in virtual environments so that they can be observed, manipulated or operated on. The aim is to understand what’s happening to the actual objects without affecting them directly.

What Forward has done is make mathematically accurate digital twin models for sprawling enterprise networks that can drive actionable insights. The goal is to improve network operations, increase security, allow operations teams to test changes before they apply them in the real world and execute post-mortems of events without having to cause downtime...

[READ MORE on SILICONANGLE]

PRNewswire

Funding led by MSD Partners and includes new investors Section 32 and Omega Venture Partners with participation from existing investors Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Threshold Ventures, A. Capital and Andreessen Horowitz

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward Networks announced today that it has secured $50M in Series D funding from top-tier venture capital firms. The company provides unique digital twin network modeling software that delivers security, reliability, and agility to large enterprise networks. The funding round, led by MSD Partners, L.P., includes new investors Section 32 and Omega Venture Partners as well as existing investors Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Goldman Sachs), Threshold Ventures, A. Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. Additionally, Victor Hwang, managing director and co-head of MSD Growth, joins the Forward Networks board of directors.

Since its last round of funding in 2019, Forward Networks has quadrupled its customer base, opened new headquarters in Santa Clara, California and extended its development team with an office in Bangalore, India. The company achieved 139% ARR growth from FY2021 to FY2022 while experiencing exceptional customer loyalty demonstrated by a 96% retention rate.

By creating a mathematically accurate digital twin of the network, Forward Enterprise delivers actionable insights that enable network operators to make data-driven decisions, prevent errors and improve overall network security, compliance, and health. The platform supports all major networking vendors, hybrid-cloud, and multi-cloud environments, including AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure.

David Erickson, CEO and co-founder of Forward Networks, said, "We're creating a new technology category with a product that our customers deem indispensable as soon as it's implemented. We're excited to put this capital to work to grow sales and deliver a product that unlocks the power of the data inside everyone's digital infrastructure."

"We are exceedingly excited and optimistic about Forward Networks," said Victor Hwang, managing director and co-head of MSD Growth. "As enterprise network architectures grow and become more complex, the necessity for network security and visibility have dramatically increased. Forward's robust and scalable platform addresses this large and growing market need unlike anything else we've seen. As a flexible, long-term partner, MSD Growth seeks to back exceptional growth businesses with proven unit economics and strong commercial acceptance of their products. We're thrilled to lead the company's round of funding and support its next stage of growth."

"Forward Networks is one of the few companies addressing the multi-vendor, multi-cloud reality of enterprise networks," said Andy Harrison, CEO and managing partner, Section 32. "By providing network visualization and verification that supports the entire network, its digital twin puts people back in control of the network. The company has demonstrated substantial growth, underscoring the value of its unique approach to modern enterprises."

"Forward Networks has reached an inflection point in its growth as it innovates across network automation, advanced analytics, and cybersecurity," adds Gaurav Tewari, managing partner at Omega Venture Partners. "Modern enterprises rely on the company's category-defining solutions for transformative insights, intelligence, and proactive risk mitigation. Together with Forward Networks, we are excited to leverage Omega's substantial strategic resources to capture the tremendous growth potential ahead."

Threshold Ventures has been a financial supporter of Forward Networks since its Series B funding in 2017.

"We saw the potential value of the Forward Networks platform right away," said Andreas Stavropoulos, partner at Threshold Ventures. "We've been impressed by the company's growth and the expanded platform capabilities that make insightful and actionable network data available to NetOps, SecOps, and CloudOps teams."

To learn more about Forward Enterprise, visit nl1g1e2381-staging.onrocket.site.

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. For more information, visit nl1g1e2381-staging.onrocket.site.

About MSD Partners

MSD Partners focuses on maximizing long-term capital appreciation across three core areas of investing expertise – Credit, Real Estate, and Growth Equity. It is an affiliate of BDT & MSD Partners, a merchant bank with an advisory and investment platform built to serve the distinct needs of business owners and strategic, long-term investors. Since 2010, BDT MSD Partners' affiliated funds have deployed more than $50 billion across their investment strategies. For more information, visit www.bdtmsd.com.

About Section 32

Section 32 is a venture capital firm investing at the frontiers of technology. Founded by Bill Maris, the team has vast experience building iconic companies. Our goal is to accelerate the discovery, development, and distribution of revolutionary technologies that improve the human condition. We invest across the entirety of technology. This includes cybersecurity, enterprise software, fintech, web3, quantum computing, space, machine learning, artificial intelligence, computational biology, and biotechnology.

About Omega Venture Partners

Omega Venture Partners is a premier technology investment firm headquartered in Silicon Valley. Omega invests in rapidly growing software businesses that leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning, data, and automation to deliver transformative solutions. The firm employs a thematic investment strategy to identify large market opportunities and invest in the next generation of category-defining companies. Visit: https://www.omegavp.com.

[READ PRESS RELEASE on PR NEWSWIRE]