This is part of a drive by the UK and its international partners to push back against state and criminal cyber aggression to help make the UK digital arena  significantly safer. Recently, in an unprecedented joint statement with the American government, the NCSC publicly exposed an extensive and sustained Russian campaign of intrusions into the internet infrastructure of both countries[1].

Anton Jacobsz, managing director at Networks Unlimited, says, “After the joint statement from the US and the UK, Australia added its voice and  joined the US and UK in publicly blaming Russia for a malicious global cyber attack last year. When we see three sovereign states joining forces to publicly blame a fourth sovereign nation for such an event, there’s clarity that it’s no longer the realm of science fiction to state that cyber warfare is becoming a weapon in a country’s arsenal. Furthermore, at the recent Commonwealth Summit held during April, the leaders agreed on a £15 million package to increase cybersecurity capabilities across the alliance, while the leaders of the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand held discussions on coordinating their cyber defences[2].

“Such a coordination of statements, agreements and discussions of these leading countries in the West shows us just how seriously we need to take the issue of cybersecurity. If sovereign states can be targeted, it is critical for the world of business also to protect its data – at all times. Data theft has long been a commodity in the criminal arena, but recent news has shown that it’s now becoming the new frontier of activity. Should someone gain access to your entire digital world, the consequences could be potentially just as bad, if not even more far-reaching, than a breach in the physical world.”

Against this background, Jacobsz points out the necessity of adopting a new approach in today’s cybersecurity defence strategies, noting that Attivo Networks, a leader in deception solutions for cybersecurity defence, offers another, very different layer of protection in the form of ‘deception technology’. Networks Unlimited is an African value-added technology distributor of Attivo Networks.

Advanced deception technology platforms allow network operators to exercise deception-based detection through every layer of the network stack, enabling efficient detection early in the attack lifecycle. Deception solutions use decoys, bait, and lures to deceive attackers into revealing themselves, closing the ‘detection gap’ and empowering organisations to implement an active defence strategy and accelerate incident response.

“The ThreatDefend Deception and Response Platform from Attivo Networks is based on six pillars, which include visibility, real-time detection, malware and phishing analysis, forensic reporting, incident handling, and response. The platform provides a ‘hall of mirrors’ environment that is baited with lures and traps designed to attract and detect attackers in real-time, actively engaging with them so that their movements and actions can be safely analysed, and evidence-based alerts raised.

“In this way, the art of deception becomes a weapon in your arsenal against cyber criminals,” Jacobsz concludes.

Attivo Networks was recently recognised as the winner of two awards from Cyber Defense Magazine in the United States. The company was named Most Innovative in the Deception Based Security category and received a Best Product Award in the Insider Threat Detection category. Almost 3,000 companies competed against each other, and Attivo Networks was subsequently honoured at the recent 2018 RSA Conference in San Francisco.

For more information, please contact Duncan Moodley, product manager: Attivo Networks at Networks Unlimited, at duncan@nu.co.za.

About Networks Unlimited

Networks Unlimited is a value-added distributor, offering the best and latest solutions within the converged technology, data centre, networking, and security landscapes. The company distributes best-of-breed products, including Arbor Networks, Attivo Networks, Cofense, Carbon Black, Fortinet, F5, Hypergrid, Mellanox Technologies, NETSCOUT, ProLabs, RSA, Rubrik, SevOne, Silver Peak, Thales, Tintri and Uplogix. The product portfolio provides solutions from the edge to the data centre, and addresses key areas such as cloud networking and integration, WAN optimisation, application performance management, application delivery networking, Wi-Fi-, mobile- and networking security, load balancing, data centre in-a-box, and storage for virtual machines.

Since its formation in 1994, Networks Unlimited has continually adapted to today's progressively competitive and evolving marketplace, and has reaped the benefits by being a leading value-added distributor (VAD) within the Sub-Saharan Africa market.

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