Avaya introduces security at the edge with Avaya Surge

Avaya has a new solution to mitigate cyberattacks that can occur through Internet of Things (IoT)-connected devices. Avaya Surge, formerly called SDN Fx Healthcare, runs on any vendor’s network to enable companies in any vertical industry to protect data from unauthorised access through IoT devices.

Attacks and breaches resulting from IoT devices are expected to rise as more and more devices are connected, offering more potential entry points to cyber criminals. Currently, most approaches to the issue have limited scalability and effectivenes, Avaya says, such as using thousands of mini firewall instances to reach thousands of deployed devices, or using network access control (NAC) for IoT security.

Avaya Surge offers an alternative that reduces complexity and cost while improving the process of securing and managing thousands of devices. Avaya Surge simply pairs the IoT edge device with a small adapter to make it an intelligent network node through which it can centrally control security and management. Once implemented, Avaya Surge delivers the following core capabilities:

· Isolates and filters traffic from device to destination. IoT devices are less visible and protected from harmful traffic such as viruses and malware. Traffic flows are filtered on a white-list* basis, limiting what the device receives and sends and to who or what it communicates.

· Uses centrally-set, 'follow-me' profiles applied on a by-device basis. When a device is disconnected from the network, the profile disappears. When the device is reconnected, a profile is automatically reassigned.

· Avaya Surge automatically learns and updates from traffic flows, providing continuous, ongoing security improvement. The solution also reports on asset utilisation.

"What we saw in our research with early Avaya Surge adopters was a complete elimination of hands-on IT staff time in installing or moving networked medical equipment -- anyone could plug a new device into the network and move devices from place to place, confident in the network's ability to secure them properly. Some were expecting to also reduce wiring and switching costs in medical spaces, by as much as 60%, through elimination of 'colour-coded-by-VLAN' wiring practices; others were anticipating reducing the number of firewalls deployed in their LAN environments by as much as 97% through use of Avaya Surge," noted John E. Burke, CIO and Principal Research Analyst, Nemertes Research.

“Security is the No. 1 issue facing growth of IoT. Unless this is solved in a practical manner, limits on innovation, digital transformation and productivity will soon be reached. Avaya Surge is the easy, practical, cost-effective and proven solution that companies need as they expand IoT strategies and deployments and move their organisations forward,” said Marc Randall, SVP and GM, Avaya Networking.

Interested?

Avaya Surge will be available through Avaya Channel Partners in Q217.