Forescout: Protecting Networks Remotely

Quick question.  How do you know if an unauthorized person is putting devices on your network when no one is onsite to monitor your environment?

This is a challenge IT teams are facing as organizations encourage individuals to stay home and prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.  Vacated offices, lacking the proper tools and misconfigured solutions are causing organizations to have critical blind spots and weaknesses in their network security.  Add in the challenges of not being onsite and managing VPN traffic and the situation becomes much more daunting.

So, let’s talk about:

• Getting eyes on onsite networks, remotely.
• Security beyond visibility.

Getting eyes on onsite networks, remotely.

In today’s connected world, people do not need to be in the office to connect to onsite networks.  It is critical for security teams to be more diligent now than ever before, ensuring that only trusted devices are connected.  Due to the influx of remote workers, malicious traffic may look very similar to trusted as VPN use is increasing.

So how does a company ensure its network is safe when both trusted and malicious traffic may look similar and teams are not onsite to monitor?

The answer is simple.  Implementing a visibility tool like Forescout’s Network Access Control (NAC) solution, EyeSight, allows IT teams to properly and effectively see and control devices connecting to corporate networks, even when through a VPN.  The NAC solution combines visibility and policies to gain insights into network traffic.

Additionally, the tool can easily adapt to a remote work setting through policy creation and modifying notifications.  Users are even able to enable email alert notifications when an unauthorized device connects to the network.

Security beyond visibility.

While the first step to securing a network is gaining visibility to monitor connected devices, Forescout also aids in device compliance.  If you’re not concerned with unauthorized users taking advantage of vacated offices, are you confident that you can successfully monitor the following?

• How do you know that Windows patches are completed when not on the network? What about patches for Windows, Mac and Linux devices?
• How do you keep corporate devices in compliance?
• How do you verify control of corporate users using a corporate asset?

Point-in-time scans and other traditional methods for ensuring device compliance leave companies vulnerable. In this unique time, the risk of noncompliant devices can compromise critical data and a passé approach will not cut it as threat continue to increase.

The device compliance approach of Forescout provides control of all devices – including VPN-connected devices – entering your network.  The devices are then blocked or updated.  With Forescout, your network is secured from and approved and non-compliant devices, even in a remote work environment.

Implementing a tool like Forescout and optimizing policies that are configured for your organization’s setup is critical as this unprecedented time continues to create security vulnerabilities.

Forescout’s complete solution addresses both visibility and security needs, especially providing the adaptability to continuously protect the network both remotely and with remote workers.

Not sure if your current Forescout environment is optimized to secure networks for today’s threats? Connect with Brite, a 3x Forescout partner of the year and be confident in your deployment.