EDITOR ’ S QUESTION

ALAIN SANCHEZ , EMEA CISO , FORTINET

Network and security convergence which considers the security aspects embedded from the ground up in any infrastructure , edge , and application the moment they are designed . The novelty is that superior security now inspires innovation instead of blocking it . It is like a new generation of brakes inspiring new trajectories to the pilot .

OT-IT convergence took longer than initially planned but is now an operational reality . Integrating OT security as part of an overall and active risk management leads to significant economies of scale , by reducing the number of management platforms , but also by increasing the overall efficiency of the protection . This approach affects the top line of investments as well as it benefits to the bottom line of costs .

The fix-mobile convergence enables companies to think the network and the security as one in topologies where Wi-Fi 6 and private 5G are giving birth to a new breed of applications operating at the edge of the network .

As new sets of regulations include data sovereignty and end-to-end reporting across hybrid infrastructure mix data centre and cloud , is driving cloud onpremises convergence .

A second step consists in deploying automation across the entire network and security value chain . By security value chain we mean here the crucial sequence of detection-analysis-response-reporting In this domain ,

Artificial Intelligence allows security staff to focus on high level decisions , whilst advanced correlations deal with the thousands of low level events in a faster and more reliable way .

OT-IT convergence took longer than initially planned but is now an operational reality .

The benefits are tangible in terms of staff retention as well as in a faster remediation scheme that puts the company back in business . This dimension of resilience if already a legal requirement in regulations such as DORA or NIS2 .

Finally , considering security services such SOC-asa-service can significantly reduce the operational bill whilst leveraging the experience of third-party , highly skilled personnel . The new next generation of SOCaaS platforms enable a high level of functionalities without losing control of critical applications and strategic data .

All this considered , thinking IT and security as centres of cost can lead to significant damages when the analysis is conducted in a strict cost killing mindset . Those in charge of optimising the company overall efficiency need to consider IT and Security as critical as the very process that create the overall value added of the company .

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