Juniper Networks’ top security exec says that organisations are struggling when it comes to operationalising security without causing disruption to the business and to users.
This is because security has always been seen as this inhibitor to growth, says Samantha Madrid, global vice president for Juniper Networks’ security business (pictured).
Security is too often seen as creating friction, Madrid told Think Digital Partners at the vendor’s recent Executive Partner Summit. “It’s not friendly, and we have to, as users, jump through a bunch of hoops in order to get from A to B,” she said.
Madrid advocates for a ‘Connected Security’ approach – of which she said operationalising security was the cornerstone.
“How do we build the bridge from where customers are today to where they’re going? Security has long been a bespoke motion for a lot of customers and partners. It’s been a separate thing. And then you have things like SASE and new architectures that force the convergence of how we rearchitect the network, how we bring security as part of that from day one.
“The whole premise behind Connected Security is operationalising it but doing so that you’re bringing security to every point of connection. So, we can secure what matters most: the users, the applications, which is where the data resides, and the infrastructure. It’s not an ‘or’, it’s an ‘and’ in terms of a strategy.”
Cloud delivered security
Madrid said Juniper works with customers to leverage their existing tech investments. This includes using their on premise footprint, such as a secure router or a firewall, and using that as a springboard for cloud delivered security.
“One of the things that we’ve done is, [say] ‘If you’re utilising our routers, or our on premise firewalls, you can easily leverage our cloud delivered security with a simple licence key.’ We really aim to make that as frictionless as possible, because that’s all managed by our SD Cloud [Security Director Cloud portal]. If I start with moving my users to the cloud, but then I want to make sure that the data they’re accessing in the datacentre is an uninterrupted and my organisation has visibility, you can still utilise SD Cloud to manage that user’s policy. It takes a ‘follow the user, follow device’ mindset into everything we’re doing.”
Juniper’s UK public sector customers include Brent Council, which has invested in Juniper’s networking kit. It is part of the council’s £10 million investment in its digital strategy.