Remote working and obsolete devices increase security risks

The move to cloud applications is leading many businesses to slow down investment in their in-house networks. This combined with a surge in home working is putting a strain on network security and infrastructures.

A new study from technology services company NTT Ltd finds 45.6 percent of organizations' network assets in Europe are aging or obsolete, as a weighted average, representing a huge surge on 2017, when this figure was just 12 percent.

Rob Lopez, executive vice president, intelligent infrastructure at NTT Ltd, says, "In this 'new normal' many businesses will need, if not be forced, to review their network and security architecture strategies, operating and support models to better manage operational risk. We expect to see strategy shift from a focus on business continuity to preparation for the future as lockdown begins to ease. Network infrastructure needs to be appropriately architected and managed to deal with unplanned surges, which will require a relook at cloud and on-premises infrastructure to reduce the impact and frequency of business-critical outages."

The results are based on data from technology assessments conducted on more than 1,000 clients covering over 800,000 network devices. It finds that obsolete devices have, on average, twice as many vulnerabilities per device (42.2) when compared with aging (26.8) and current ones (19.4), creating unnecessary risk. This risk is made worse when businesses do not patch a device or revisit the operating system version for the duration of its lifetime. Even though patching is relatively simple, and often free under a maintenance agreement or extended warranty, many businesses still don't patch their devices.

Lopez believes that digital transformation projects need to go together with network evolution, "The network is the platform for business digital transformation. It needs to be ubiquitous, flexible, robust and secure to adapt easily to business change, while increasing the maturity of the operational support environment. Businesses that use a high-level of network automation and intelligence to optimise operations will gain a significant competitive advantage and realise the benefits of the cloud economy, securely."

You can get the full 2020 Global Network Insights Report from the NTT website.

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