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04 Mar2013

Applications and threats- analyzed together for the first time.

Written by Jon Barton. Posted in Home Page, Security Updates

To my customers, friends and business associates: This is an impressive (if not unprecedented) report, compiled and published by Palo Alto Networks.  I must say they continue to innovate and lead the path in Network Security.  Thanks for your interest.

Read Article

Be sure to explore the graphic that says “Interactively Browse the Findings”  (worked better for me in a Chrome or Firefox browser).

04 Mar2013

Did you know that 60% of your internet bandwidth is consumed by non-business related video streaming?

Written by Jon Barton. Posted in Home Page, True Stories

I’ve done network engineering for a customer of mine in the credit business for several years.  This customer ran a call center for their card holders at their headquarters location. They used a VOIP Internet based IVR system for taking calls and all of their voice based customer contact.  As you might guess, this system worked well but is understandably sensitive to network delays.

Normally there was plenty of Internet bandwidth and the system worked well, but all too often seemingly ample Internet bandwidth would get congested, and customer communication visibly (or should I say audibly) suffered.  Using their two separate Cisco ASA firewalls, one for each ISP, it was never very easy to determine what, much less who, was crushing the Internet bandwidth. This was a common and painful problem.  With the tools they had available, it was rare that we could reliably figure out what the problem was.

My efforts to sell them a Palo Alto Networks Next Generation Firewall were eventually rewarded.   The day of the installation, after running a few hours, I glanced in to the Palo Alto Networks Firewall GUI admin ACC (application control center).    On the default view, the enumeration the last hour of traffic broken down by application, sorted by bytes, was the smoking gun…Here is my conversation with the proud new owner (CIO) of the new firewall:

Hey, CIO, did you know that 60% of your Internet bandwidth in the last hour was Netflix streaming?
…are you kidding?
We don’t do that here….No, I am not… (and yes you really do!)
Can you block it?
Yes, easily… would you like to know which four employees it is that ARE watching Neflix right now?
As a matter of fact, I would….

Application Usage and Threat Report

Today’s advanced cyber threats use applications as their infiltration vector, exhibit application-like invasion tactics, and act as, or use common network applications for communications and exfiltration. The Application Usage and Threat Report is an analysis of applications and their link to cyber threats within the enterprise. The report is a must read and be sure to check out the interactive component.

Get the Report

Cost of Data Breach Report

Throughout the world, companies are finding that data breaches have become as common as a cold, but far more expensive. As revealed in the 2014 Cost of Data Breach Study, the average cost to a company was $3.5 million in US dollars and 15 percent more than what it cost last year. Read this report to understand the nature and cost of data breaches, and the impact it could have on your organization.

Get the report

Soundmind Network Solutions has been providing World Class Network Engineering services in the Atlanta Area for over a decade. We are an authorized reseller of Palo Alto Networks Firewalls and maintain the highest levels of technical certification.