FINAL WORD
10 areas to strengthen
your security and risk
mitigation strategies
In today’s borderless security landscape, it’s crucial to understand
your company’s threat profile and subsequently adapt your security
strategy, as F5 Networks’ Major Channel Account Manager, sub-
Saharan Africa, Simon McCullough explains.
T
he changing face of IT security
is seen in such factors of modern
life as the pervasiveness of the
Internet, the sheer abundance of mobile
devices, the rise of social media, and
dramatic shifts in web and cloud-based
technology. The Internet of Things adds
another layer of complexity in which
applications are at the core of this
changing landscape. According to F5
data that tracked the 25 largest security
breaches between 2000 and 2015, an
astounding 72% of today’s attacks
target identities and applications, not
the network.
This is according to Simon McCullough,
Major Channel Account Manager, sub-
Saharan Africa at F5, who says, “This
shift has come about because data is
what hackers are after, and the most
direct pathway to data is through user
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credentials and applications. In this
complex and vulnerable environment,
applications and corresponding data
can be anywhere and everywhere.
“The traditional network perimeter has
dissolved in this online, interconnected
world, and so, in an attack on
applications, traditional network
firewalls are not enough of a defence.
However, according to F5 research
(specifically, marketing sizing estimates
aggregated from global research firms),
90% of today’s IT security budget is
spent on perimeter solutions, leaving
minimal budget on protecting user
identities and applications, where 72%
of today’s attacks take place.”
McCullough says that in this new,
borderless security landscape, it’s
important to know your company’s
Simon McCullough, Major Channel
Account Manager, sub-Saharan Africa,
F5 Networks
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