New Network Resilience Coalition Launches to Address Threats to Outdated Network Infrastructure
Industry leaders across networking, service providers and cybersecurity
announced the launch of the Network Resilience Coalition, an alliance focused
on bringing together technology providers, security experts and network
operators seeking to propose real-world solutions that dramatically improve the
security of data and networks that support our global economic and national
security.
Software and hardware
vendors spend tremendous amounts of time and effort to ensure that all products
and services are as strong and secure as possible. Unfortunately, it is common
for organizations to lack robust patching and vulnerability management programs
or to not install critical updates in a timely manner, despite their
availability.
Not only does failing
to upgrade or update hardware and software systems put the individual
organization at risk, it can lead to cyberattacks on a global scale, targeting
aging network infrastructure, as evidenced by recent advisories from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre and the U.S.’s
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as well as reports
of state-sponsored activity.
Technology companies
must find ways to address the continued problem of software and hardware
updates and patches not being implemented, while also encouraging organizations
to have better visibility into their networks to better mitigate cyber risks.
The Network Resilience Coalition was formed to help address these issues in an
open and collaborative way and to help improve network hardware and software
resilience on a global scale. By bringing together infrastructure vendors and
major network operators who are experienced in deploying patches in a timely
manner, the coalition aims to address network hardware and software resilience challenges
and inform good policy.
Founding members of
the new coalition consist of leaders who have been addressing this problem at
its roots, including, AT&T Inc., Broadcom, BT Group, Cisco Systems Inc.,
Fortinet, Intel Corp., Juniper Networks, Lumen Technologies Inc., Palo Alto
Networks, Verizon and VMware.
“Network resilience
is vital to the health of our economy and our interconnected world and there is
a need to focus on how to improve the security of the larger ecosystem by all
sides working together,” said Ari Schwartz, coordinator of the Center for
Cybersecurity Policy & Law, a leading non-profit that brings together
industry leaders with policymakers to find solutions that can help improve the
digital security of networks, devices and critical infrastructure. “Too often
we see organizations fall victim to a cyberattack because an existing critical
update or patch wasn’t made.”
Coalition members
will work together on a report that investigates the crux of these issues and
produce clear, actionable recommendations for improving network security, for
technology providers, technology users, and those creating or regulating
security policy.
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