If your personal information has ever fallen victim to a large network security breach, you know it’s no laughing matter. From dating sites and social media platforms to credit card companies, health insurance, banking systems and trusted government agencies, no one wants their sensitive information caught in the web of a dreaded security breach. In the last eight years, alone, data driven companies including Yahoo!, Alibaba, LinkedIn, Facebook, Apple’s iCloud, and various health insurance companies have had one thing in common – they’ve all been breached. The collateral damage is the private (often sensitive) information of hundreds of millions of users and customers.
Pandemic times have ushered in a new amped up digital era with millions of businesses operating on a remote or hybrid model, largely dependent on digital platforms from Zoom and Microsoft Teams, to GoToMeeting, Skype, FaceTime and WebEx. Beyond virtual and hybrid meetings that discuss sensitive proprietary information, over the past eighteen months many of us are doing the majority of our shopping online, dating online and even conducting virtual doctor’s appointments online. More privacy and security breaches in this pandemic and post-pandemic era could go well beyond inconvenience. It could be catastrophic.
And it doesn’t have to be that way. Now, many enterprise computer networks across healthcare, banking, social platforms, entertainment, and federal government agencies have gone a different route with their network infrastructure to ensure they won’t have to send out any mass letters that start something like this:
“There was a security breach and your information may have been compromised.”
Cringe!
An integral part of the solution to this digital epidemic is called Uplogix – an automated network management platform designed to monitor and execute a network’s initial recovery actions; work that is typically performed by IT technicians. Utilizing console port connections like an admin connecting with their laptop, Uplogix reduces dependence on the network, itself, to retrieve valuable information and execute crucial tasks in real time.
According to Uplogix CEO, Lisa Frankovitch, “the weakness of most network management solutions is that it relies on the network itself to operate.”
The Uplogix solution is different in its ability to operate as an automated network management platform designed to monitor and execute initial recovery actions that are typically performed by network technicians. Its intelligence utilizes console port connections to perform tasks like an IT administrator would, and reduces dependence on the network itself to retrieve valuable information, as well as reliably execute predefined tasks.
“Uplogix offers an innovative product that reliably automates routine tasks that ordinarily consume a big chunk of IT time,” explains Frankovitch. “This effectively saves our customers’ operational costs. By adding the Uplogix solution to a network, we’re filling that void and freeing up IT professionals’ time to focus on more productive tasks to further the innovation and growth goals of an enterprise.”
Unlike us mere mortals, Uplogix is remotely deployed, connected out-of-band, and with real-time capabilities to conduct network health and security checks automatically every thirty seconds. This allows it to detect even the slightest blip of irregular activity with network infrastructure devices, and correct the issue before it becomes a problem that could impact internal user experience, while keeping customer information secure.
Explaining one of the many reasons why Uplogix solves this crucial 21st century security issue, Billy Moran, Marketing Director of Uplogix, explains, “The key is that ‘security’ is all about everything working properly, not just isolated areas of a network.”
Securing personal data and keeping up with software updates are crucial, but, according to Moran, they’re not the entire picture. “With Uplogix, our part of securing a network is focused on the network infrastructure. The very devices that make the networks work – routers, switches, firewalls and more; we handle issues in real time, and with an out-of-band approach.”
This means that if a network, itself, becomes corrupted or faulty, Uplogix is unaffected and can often effectively fix the issue before it becomes a problem for users. Considering the high-profile enterprise networks Uplogix oversees, we should all breathe a sigh of relief. From government agencies like our Social Security Administration and VA hospitals to some of the world’s top banking systems and the energy industry, it’s good to know we are in good hands.
A Taste of How Uplogix Does It
Uplogix connects over the console or management port on network devices. Effectively owning this connection means that if someone were to try to physically access a device to make changes, Uplogix’ will alert that loss of connection. In addition, Uplogix stores current and past configuration files locally, so if someone made changes to a device’s config, the network administrator will have a copy of what they did and can easily roll it back to the previous version, and quickly!
For users to remotely access a device through Uplogix, the automated IT platform integrates with existing TACACS and other AAA (Access, Authentication, and Accounting) platforms to ensure that users only get access to the right devices, and Uplogix can even limit them to only run commands specific to their privileges. This means IT professionals and company or agency employees can’t stick their hands in the cookie jar, willy nilly. Employees must have the right security clearance to access a specific parts of their network.
Leading the Way With Out-of-Band Network Management
The NSA (National Security Agency) published guidelines recommending that network management traffic, the monitoring and changes made by network administrators, not be conducted over the operational network, but separated and passed over a secondary, or out-of-band network. This is how Uplogix was designed to operate from its founding, more than 15 years ago.
“Beyond safeguarding a company, organization, or government entity’s proprietary information and the public’s private information; Uplogix allows businesses to free up their IT staff to focus on more proactive and profitable projects while Uplogix takes care of the day-to-day operational tasks,” concludes CEO Lisa Frankovitch.
