Why Borderless Network Security Matters for Your Business

Borderless digital networks have been evolving for some time as businesses become more global and connected to mobile and personal devices. Therefore, it’s crucial that the approach you take to protecting your borderless network also evolves to effectively prevent costly attacks.

What is a borderless network?

The term "borderless network" describes the new network architecture powering global digital transformation initiatives at private and public organizations worldwide. 

Traditionally, information technology teams tasked themselves with creating clearly defined buffer zones between their private networks and external threats. The concept of creating a network perimeter made sense as companies sought to take ownership over their servers and network architecture to enhance information security. 

The concept of preventative network security hinges on the idea of creating a solid wall of protection around a company's digital presence, apps, on-site hardware, and software. As global digital transformation initiatives created the ability for organizations to access their most critical applications, data, and other digital assets from the cloud, the borderless network was born. 

Ebook - What IT Leaders Must Know About Cybersecurity

The Impact of Increased Remote Work on Cybersecurity

Since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, a powerful shift towards remote work has dramatically increased the adoption of borderless networks. Borderless cloud-powered architectures support multiple environments embraced by today’s business’, including: software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), data as a service (DaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS) innovations. All have made modern remote work more mobile and agile than ever before.

It is unlikely that the global workforce will ever completely return to the same 9-to-5 work grind that had been the standard for so many decades. At the height of the pandemic, 70% of essential workers found themselves working from home every week. Analysts predict that as global cultures shift to a post-pandemic world, 58.6% of workers will remain remote indefinitely. 

Given the rise of the new normal of remote organizational culture, the shift to SaaS, and the adoption of cloud-based solutions, it's essential for every organization to think about how to make the most of borderless networks without becoming exposed to preventable cybersecurity risks. 

The Risks Borderless Networks and Remote Work Present

Borderless network security raises some unique challenges, which were highlighted during the pandemic. The pandemic changed the way that people work, shop, and enjoy their free time. It also accelerated the adoption and use of mobile technologies, forcing companies to reimagine a more nuanced remote hybrid organizational network. 

Borderless networks represent an immense opportunity for helping organizations be more agile and resilient in the face of uncertainty. But they heighten the need for more robust security solutions to protect as much of the organization's digital ecosystem as possible. Achieving true protection when utilizing borderless networks requires the capacity to prevent known attacks, detect new anomalous behaviors, and respond in real-time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Remote work often takes place across employees' own devices. If your workers are accessing your corporate data remotely across borderless networks, then your organization needs to mitigate the risks exposed by this. When you combine employees using their personal devices with whatever tasks they choose to work on while connected to unsecured public networks (i.e. Starbucks or hotel Wi-Fi), you dramatically increase the likelihood for cyber intrusion to occur. 

Cybercriminals use many advanced and some deceptively simple techniques to gain access to borderless networks. Forms of attacks involving social media messages, text messages, and emails are on the rise. Social engineering scams seek to mimic everyday communications, and all it takes is one accidental mouse click to trigger a cyber attack. 

Though this type of crime is still challenging to prevent within a network perimeter, that perimeter gives IT much better visibility into what is going on. In contrast, remote work severely limits the ability for IT teams to have a sufficient level of oversight and awareness into key cybersecurity blind spots. 

Managed eXtended Detection & Response (MXDR) is the Solution to Borderless Network Security

The absolute best way to eliminate cybersecurity blindspots is to implement an industry-leadingManaged eXtended Detection & Response (MXDR) solution. MXDR is an outsourced form of cybersecurity that provides a single source of truth for countering today's cyber threats and anticipating tomorrow's challenges. 

The right MXDR deploys artificial intelligence and machine learning to focus attention where it counts, enabling 24/7 real-time visibility into security challenges and the ability to automatically contain and remediate threats. 

Contact us to see where your organization stacks up. Schedule a security threat assessment today.