Anticipating the Need for Virtual Unified Threat Management

Business and Threat Management
In the information-driven age where organisations are heavily dependent on technology for their daily operations, cyber threats have become more of a norm. About a decade back, most companies could afford to keep a small IT team for their IT and cybersecurity. However, with hackers’ strategies and malware becoming increasingly sophisticated, businesses now need stronger defence systems to prevent data breaches and disrupting incidents.

In addition to the deployment of anti-malware software systems and firewalls, employee security training, data backups in the cloud, vendor compliance policies and varying privileges of network access are a few steps that organisations are taking to counter cyber threats.

Banks deploy secure VPNs for their operations to ensure that the data and official information shared internally is restricted to the bank’s private network. Retailers that get customers’ credit card information through purchase transactions also need to have encrypted servers and security controls to mitigate the risk of data breach and fraud.

Stand-alone network security products have specific functions, but there are significant costs and complexity issues associated with their management and maintenance. To address the challenges posed by evolving threats, businesses need security solutions that can be seamlessly integrated to offer all-inclusive security.

Unified threat management
Unified threat management (UTM) is an all-round solution that provides the capabilities of multiple security products bundled into a single package. UTM enables end-to-end security management to monitor and control various security-focused components on an integrated platform. The primary objective of unified computing management is to empower enterprises in identifying and preventing potential cyber threats cost-effectively. A typical UTM incorporates various security technologies, including next-gen firewalls, antivirus and malware protection, intrusion prevention system (IPS), virtual private networking (VPN) and content filtering.

Why go virtual?
Traditional UTM is deployed on-premise by small-sized businesses that confine security management to the infrastructure that is physically located at a single place. This is restrictive and very outdated in the age of global expansion and growth. With the continuous use of smart devices to access business applications, there is a critical need for an agile system that can be accessed and utilised over the Internet from any location in the world irrespective of the time zone.

A virtual unified threat management (vUTM) system is a cloud-based application that is hosted on a cloud for anytime-anywhere access to the security components. vUTM solutions provide ease of access with extensive security management capabilities to protect critical user data and business information irrespective of the geographic locations.

In addition to crucial security components such as antivirus, anti-malware, firewall, intrusion detection and prevention, virtual private networking and web and content filtering, a vUTM helps enterprises build a sound security infrastructure over the networks spanning across the world, over the Internet.

• Flexibility and adaptability:vUTM systems render versatile solutions that allow businesses to deal with complex networking conditions by opting for the best fit for their specific security needs. Businesses can purchase the license to avail themselves of unique sets of security technologies as required. These virtual UTM solutions also provide complete flexibility to deploy customised security innovations ensuring a constant and well-equipped system for robust security.
• Centralised administration:A cloud-based unified security management system helps in the centralised administration of numerous network security components such as firewall, application control and VPN. A single management console tracks and administers all such security elements for flawless business functioning. Such measures render more efficiency to the network administrators for identifying specific UTM segments that may need actionable attention. vUTM’s centralised security control also helps businesses to screen potential threats.
• Cost-effectiveness:An efficient vUTM system helps in reducing security management costs significantly by unifying an array of network security management components. As a centralised framework, UTM minimises the number of resources required to manage various devices for utmost security.
• Identification of security threats:The cloud-based unified threat management system enables businesses to identify imminent security threats faster because of continual updating of the centralised security management system for detecting multi-faceted dangers.
• Holistic security solution:A virtual UTM is a combination of numerous security components that account for the overall security across various platforms. The technology not only streamlines the security management of business information but also focuses on decreasing the number of assets for conducting security assessment procedures. Businesses can distribute the network resources to address distinct business security needs without compromising the performance at any level.

Conclusion
UTM is a holistic solution that can efficiently address the diverse security needs of a business. As a single package, it makes it easy for organisations to manage various security solutions. Small and medium enterprises commonly opt for UTM solutions as it offers an affordable alternative to spending on an individual security solution for each function/domain.

Virtual unified security management (vUTM) solutions from Tata Tele Business Services are expertly designed to empower businesses with centralised monitoring, control and management of numerous threats. The solution also helps them implement foolproof security policies and procedures to protect the entire organisation infrastructure against malicious cyber threats.

To learn more about how virtual unified security management can contribute to business performance and productivity, visit vUTM or contact 1800-266-1800.

Sources:

• https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/76-per-cent-indian-businesses-hit-by-cyber-attacks-in-2018-finds-survey/story/327389.html
• https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/over-26-million-cyber-threats-targeted-indian-companies-in-q3-2018-seqrite-118122600121_1.html