Layer 4 encryption also overcomes the problems created by application vendors opting to introduce third party encryption solutions into applications to create a secure connection between clients and servers. While the theory was great, security threats such as Heartbleed and Poodle, which compromised sessions, threw application vendors into a spin. The challenge of getting the third party to fix the problem, then update the application, download a patch and ensure customers have applied that patch across their estate is huge – leaving many applications still unpatched years later. Creating a Layer 4 encryption overlay ensures that application data is secure and resolves the software provider’s security challenges. Indeed, even if the application encryption has been updated, adding Layer 4 encryption creates a double encryption model that ensures whatever may happen in the future to compromise the application, the organisation will be secure.
This is the fundamental concept that organisations need to understand – trust nothing, secure everything. By adopting a zero trust model and accepting an inherent risk of breach organisations can take a far more proactive approach to securing data across the entire infrastructure.
Adding Layer 4 Stealth encryption not only secures critical data – and underpins compliance with regulations including GDPR – but it does so without compromising network performance or operational agility.
About the author:
Paul German, CEO, Certes Networks – www.certesnetworks.com
