Aviatrix Announces Distributed Cloud Firewall Platform
Cloud networking firm Aviatrix has recently launched its Distributed Cloud Firewall security platform, designed to help companies address the challenges of managing multiple cloud environments by providing a consolidated view into the security of their cloud workloads. The platform enables companies to perform traffic inspection and policy enforcement across multicloud environments without the need to route traffic to some centralized inspection point. With the vast majority of companies now using a multicloud architecture, and 80% of them struggling with managing their multicloud deployments and cloud infrastructure security, the Distributed Cloud Firewall platform is expected to scale up the level of protection offered by traditional virtual firewall appliances.
The Challenge of Multicloud Security
Many companies are grappling with the challenges of managing multiple cloud environments and addressing the security issues that arise. Patrick Coughlin, Vice President of technical go-to-market for Splunk, warns that companies can quickly lose visibility into the security of their cloud infrastructure as each cloud service provider (CSP) differs in the way that they handle security policies, inspection of traffic and deploying workloads. Managing that per-CSP approach is a non-trivial challenge that requires visibility across all different cloud services, investigating across all of that when a security incident happens.
Cloud Security Vendors
With large numbers of organizations using multiple infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) solutions from the top cloud companies, finding a solution to the growing complexity of managing multiple cloud environments has become critical. Besides Aviatrix, other major vendors that focus on cloud workload security include Palo Alto Network, McAfee Enterprise, Trend Micro, Rapid7, and Check Point Software Technologies, according to Forrester Research.
The Benefits of Multicloud Security
In uncertain economic times, with cost efficiencies paramount, using a single provider or cloud provider to source all cloud security capabilities from one tool can help cut costs, reduce errors, and improve overall security posture, according to Andras Cser, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research. Additionally, using distributed firewalls can provide cost efficiencies over traditional pricing structures while helping companies reduce the overhead of securing workloads, allowing their security professionals to focus on improving security maturity. A consolidated view of cloud infrastructure security also helps organizations become more efficient and saves time by not having to deploy individual instances and associated cloud infrastructure such as load balancers to support them.
Conclusion and Editorial
With multicloud security being a top concern for companies, the launch of Aviatrix’s Distributed Cloud Firewall platform provides a promising solution to address the challenges of managing multiple cloud environments. With its consolidated view into the security of cloud workloads, policy enforcement and traffic inspection capabilities, the platform is expected to enhance the level of protection offered by traditional virtual firewall appliances. While the cost benefits of multicloud security are clear, it is important for companies to note that using a combination of different cloud security vendors can provide a more comprehensive and layered approach to security. Therefore, companies should continue to carefully consider their security needs and choose the best cloud security solutions that suit their needs.
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