Category: Secure

Secure provides guidance and insight on the myriad issues that business technologists grapple with while protecting business data assets and ensuring continuity.

Telco SD-WAN in ASEAN: Significant Development, but What’s Next?

by Alfie Amir, posted in Cloud Enable, Communicate, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • The SD-WAN market landscape in ASEAN has evolved. Many telcos have added SD-WAN as part of their enterprise ICT portfolio.
  • The ASEAN telcos could consider multi-vendor offerings and overlay-underlay integration as the next steps.

There are two types of telcos. The first type is telcos that are aware of the increase in SD-WAN demand and leverage the technology to drive their network services. This type often comes from a consumer heritage and is looking to expand into an adjacent market. In most cases, they are alternative providers. These telcos have accepted the fact that the MPLS market is on a downtrend and will continue to decline. They position SD-WAN as a value-add to complement their existing connectivity services. There are also cellular telcos with small/no revenue from the fixed-line services which see SD-WAN as a new market opportunity. These telcos have been aggressive in driving the market and leveraging their brand and connectivity advantages to differentiate against non-telco competitors. The second type is telcos that are also aware of the growing SD-WAN demand, but see it as a threat to their connectivity business. These are often the incumbent telcos with a large portion of revenue from legacy connectivity services. Most of them still believe that the declining MPLS revenue is because of competition, not due to lower market demand. These telcos also often do not have any SDN/NFV capabilities. Some of them offer the service quietly/selectively with a below-the-line marketing strategy. Continue reading “Telco SD-WAN in ASEAN: Significant Development, but What’s Next?” →

Outlook for 5G-Enabled Enterprise Solutions in 2021: The Potential Telco Game Plans

by siowmeng, posted in Communicate, Internet of Things, Mobilize, Network, Secure
S. Soh

Summary Bullets:

  • While 5G-enabled enterprise solutions offer new revenue streams for telecom operators, they need new capabilities to develop and sell the full solutions, not just the carriage component.
  • Telecom operators will look to partnerships and/or acquisitions to gain the necessary competence to help customers in key industry verticals to transform their business operations.

Telecommunications companies (telcos) are at a crossroads as they rollout 5G and looking at how to monetize this investment. While they can continue to focus on selling carriage services, with the saturation of mobile subscription and competitive pressure, the hope of increasing ARPU from 5G connectivity remains elusive. Instead, many telcos are looking to enterprise solutions as a way to open up new revenue streams, leveraging 5G’s unique capabilities around ultra-low latency, reliability, and significantly higher throughput. Some will go even further and set new performance parameters with 5G. This shift inevitably involves moving into new territories for the telcos, including IoT, data analytics, cloud services, cybersecurity, etc., and bringing these capabilities together to solve business problems and prove outcomes. Emerging 5G enterprise solutions also tend to target specific use cases across various industries (e.g., smart factory, port automation, and connected utilities). Most enterprises do not know how 5G can help to transform their business and they rely on their technology partners to advise and show them the possibilities. Continue reading “Outlook for 5G-Enabled Enterprise Solutions in 2021: The Potential Telco Game Plans” →

TM ONE Leap Summit 2020: Accelerating Digital Transformation in Malaysia Through Expanded Capabilities

by Alfie Amir, posted in Cloud Enable, Communicate, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • TM ONE has expanded its ICT portfolio and strengthened its professional service capabilities.
  • However, there is still a gap in its partner ecosystem compared to other providers.

TM ONE held its third LEAP Summit virtually in November 2020.  At the event, the provider shared various initiatives not only in enhancing the country network infrastructure in line with the government’s plan, but also in expanding its portfolio and capabilities as a digital transformation partner to Malaysian enterprises.  Its focus is on the future of work (e.g., robotics, automation AI), digital competency or skillset, agile working, and Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0).  The provider also shared several actual use cases and showcased its portfolio and capabilities in cloud, cybersecurity, 5G and IoT, and data analytics.  This post discusses TM ONE strengths and gaps in the market as well as recommendations for the provider and buyers in the country. Continue reading “TM ONE Leap Summit 2020: Accelerating Digital Transformation in Malaysia Through Expanded Capabilities” →

Palo Alto Networks Completes Acquisition of The Crypsis Group to Strengthen Its Cortex XDR Offering

by Rajesh Muru, posted in Secure

R. Muru

Summary Bullets:

  • Palo Alto Networks’ acquisition of The Crypsis Group will enable the company to successfully build and strengthen detection and prevention capability in its Cortex XDR platform and drive market growth.
  • Palo Alto will acquire a highly experienced team consisting of 150 security consultants with strong capabilities in incident response and risk mitigation.

Palo Alto Networks continues with its investment strategy with the latest acquisition of The Crypsis Group, an incident response, risk management, and digital forensics company, for $265 million. With this acquisition, Palo Alto Networks plans to strengthen its Cortex XDR platform to successfully eliminate and address cyber threats. In particular, Palo Alto will enhance functionality in its Cortex XDR platform in collecting rich security telemetry data, managing breaches, and initiating rapid response actions. The platform already has strong detection and response capabilities that natively integrate network, endpoint, and cloud data to stop sophisticated cyberattacks. It does this by continually identifying evasive threats with increased accuracy and by profiling user and endpoint behavior with analytics capabilities. The Cortex XDR also has strong machine learning (ML) capabilities to analyze data from Palo Alto’s networks as well as third parties to identify highly engineered threats targeting devices and systems. Building further enhancements on its Cortex XDR offering around prediction, prevention, and mitigation of cyberattacks – and at speed – will enable Palo Alto to differentiate in the marketplace as it moves forward with a highly effective detection and response platform that integrates endpoint, network, and cloud data. Continue reading “Palo Alto Networks Completes Acquisition of The Crypsis Group to Strengthen Its Cortex XDR Offering” →

Cloud-Network Convergence: Double-Edged Sword for Carriers, but an Opportunity Emerges in the Edge

by Malcolm Rogers, posted in Big Data, Cloud Enable, Communicate, Internet of Things, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure

M. Rogers

Summary Bullets:

  • Hyperscale cloud providers continue to invest in expansion of networking solutions and network adjacent partnerships with SD-WAN vendors and data center providers.
  • As hyperscale networking solutions become more advanced and the cloud edge moves closer to end users, some carriers may be crowded out of the cloud-network convergence market.

Hyperscale cloud providers and global network carriers have been building stronger relationships and deeper integrations around WAN and networking solutions. The partnerships are a natural fit as more enterprises move business-critical workloads to cloud platforms. These workloads require high-bandwidth, high-throughput, low-latency, secure, and reliable connections from virtually any location these days to connect to the major cloud platforms. Continue reading “Cloud-Network Convergence: Double-Edged Sword for Carriers, but an Opportunity Emerges in the Edge” →

AWS Outposts Availability in New Countries Strengthens AWS’ Presence and Drives Edge Computing in ASEAN

by Alfie Amir, posted in Cloud Enable, Communicate, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure

A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • AWS Outposts availability in ASEAN countries strengthens AWS’ presence in the region and enables it to capture the high-growth cloud opportunities there.
  • AWS Outposts and Wavelength will drive edge computing through stronger collaborations with partners, especially the telcos.

Launched late last year in select markets, AWS Outposts takes hybrid cloud to the next level by enabling enterprises to run AWS compute storage, database, and other services within their own premises or preferred third-party data centers. For more, please see “AWS re:Invent 2019: AWS Announces General Availability of Outposts, but Must Demonstrate Management Competence” (December 5, 2019). Recently, the provider added nine new countries, including emerging markets such as Malaysia and Thailand, making Outposts available to 50 markets through 22 regions to date. While competitors have their own approach (e.g., Azure Stack, Google Anthos, Alibaba Apsara Stack), AWS is a step ahead in its service availability globally and partner ecosystem. Continue reading “AWS Outposts Availability in New Countries Strengthens AWS’ Presence and Drives Edge Computing in ASEAN” →

COVID-19: Some Countries Come Under Fire for the Potential Misuse of Contact Tracing Apps

by Amy Larsen DeCarlo, posted in Cloud Enable, Internet of Things, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure

A. DeCarlo
A. DeCarlo

Summary Bullets:

  • As more countries roll out contact tracing apps to notify citizens when they have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, concerns are emerging about how this data could be used.
  • Human rights organization Amnesty International called out the apps from Bahrain, Norway, and Kuwait for not anonymizing end-user data.

Amnesty International is issuing a warning that some of the new COVID-19 contact tracing apps may not just be an invasion of privacy but potentially put lives at risk. Contact tracing – the process of finding and notifying people who have interacted with an infected person so they can be tested and quarantine – is vital to allowing businesses, educational institutions, and governments to resume operations that are closer to normal even as the virus continues to spread. Continue reading “COVID-19: Some Countries Come Under Fire for the Potential Misuse of Contact Tracing Apps” →

COVID-19: Under the Coronavirus Strain, Will Blockchain be the New Supply Chain?

by Charlotte Dunlap, posted in Cloud Enable, IT Leader, Network, Secure

C. Dunlap
C. Dunlap

Summary Bullets:

• Coronavirus demands illustrate the brokenness of traditional supply chain

• Blockchain methods emphasize trust and data strengths, but innovations are in early stages

The latest examples of the brokenness of the current state of the supply chain market are illustrated by the global pandemic.

COVID-19 has exposed the inability to access and mange adequate supplies of ventilators and PPEs, including proper visibility into the quality of expired and damaged goods unknowingly being sent to hospital workers. The issue demonstrates the need for an evaluation of how current supply chain systems supply, track, and manage goods and services. At the same time, the momentum behind blockchain as the answer for serving as a modern day supply chain alternative should be considered, but won’t be entirely straightforward, considering its recent emergence. Continue reading “COVID-19: Under the Coronavirus Strain, Will Blockchain be the New Supply Chain?” →

COVID-19: IBM Helps Clients Protect their Digital Assets and Keep Newly Remote Operations Online During the Pandemic

by Amy Larsen DeCarlo, posted in Secure

Amy Larsen DeCarlo – Principal Analyst, Security and Data Center Services

Summary Bullets:

• IBM is mapping its COVID-19 support efforts around seven major technology and business concerns relevant to clients during the outbreak, with business continuity and IT security being two key areas.

• Company executives think the move by so many organizations to remote work will accelerate major post-pandemic transformation projects.

The rapid shift of brick and mortar operations by enterprises and governments to a remote work model has placed technology companies front and center in the fight for business to survive. IT vendors and service providers are helping clients with everything from standing up new collaboration systems and providing critical connectivity to delivering AI-based tools to support customer communications with fewer call center resources. As one of the world’s largest providers of technology and professional and managed services, IBM has been leading a massive effort to help clients transition to and manage remote operations. Continue reading “COVID-19: IBM Helps Clients Protect their Digital Assets and Keep Newly Remote Operations Online During the Pandemic” →

COVID-19: Considerations for Cybersecurity in Healthcare

by Rajesh Muru, posted in Secure

R. Muru

Summary Bullets:

• Security heads must consider the right options when addressing security gaps in an organization’s IT, with a particular focus on email phishing, ransomware, DDoS, and network breaches.

• Assess vendors that have strong threat management capabilities, wide portfolio coverage encompassing cloud and endpoint security through a platform-centric approach, and flexible commercial pricing arrangements.

The global healthcare sector is being subjected to an array of cyberattacks as it deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. Criminals are attempting to cash in through ransomware and compromise the integrity of IT systems. Recent examples where GlobalData has seen cyberattacks include i) Bruno University Hospital in Czech Republic, one of the country’s COVID-19 testing centers, was struck by ransomware resulting in the postponement of surgeries, ii) the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suffered a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack intended to disrupt the organization’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and iii) increased phishing website hacking attempts on the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners. Continue reading “COVID-19: Considerations for Cybersecurity in Healthcare” →