Elisity Micro Edge provides real-time visibility into all network assets
Elisity launched Elisity Micro Edge, extending the Cognitive Trust platform as a containerized application on Cisco Catalyst 9000 series switches, or as a virtual machine (VM) on a hypervisor for Cisco Catalyst 3850 series switches.
It also provides the capability to further control the Cisco Catalyst 3850 series switches. With Elisity Micro Edge, organizations can unleash the full power of their Cisco switches with a lightweight, centrally managed edge deployment of the innovative identity-based zero trust access platform.
Cognitive Trust is Elisity’s cloud-native and cloud-delivered solution for identity-based segmentation of users, applications, and devices, whether managed or unmanaged, on-prem or in the cloud. It delivers fast time-to-value by providing real-time visibility into all network assets, and data flows to identify high-impact security policies.
Organizations need to transition from implicit to an explicit trust approach, with visibility being the first step to explicit policy creation. An alternative to complex Network Access Control (NAC) and East-West firewalls, Micro Edge enables customers to benefit from simplified network security operations and reduced costs while taking advantage of Cognitive Trust’s powerful prevention, detection, and response tools that enhance the cybersecurity posture and minimize the attack surface over time. Micro Edge also eliminates the need to install and maintain additional hardware, saving organizations time and resources
“Elisity Micro Edge maximizes customer’s investments in their Cisco switches by turning them into intelligent policy enforcement points,” said James Winebrenner, CEO, Elisity. “It integrates seamlessly with existing user identity and device telemetry providers to provide unprecedented visibility and control. Customers can easily deploy explicit trust policies that protect the most critical enterprise assets from malicious lateral network traffic directly at the network edge without the hassle of installing additional hardware. Customers can now build and manage policies with ease and enforce them at the network’s edge, without the hassle and expense of installing and maintaining additional hardware.”
“Within 24 hours of deploying Elisity Cognitive Trust on our Cisco switches, we discovered devices of which we had no prior visibility, giving us insights into actions needed,” said Alma Kucera, Business Information Security Officer, at Bupa. “With help from the Elisity team, we created simple, scalable policies to secure our assets, and we were able to enforce them in real-time. The potential of gaining East-West security for managed and unmanaged users and IoT/IoMT devices without having to install additional hardware in our campus network is absolutely game-changing for our organization. The Elisity team is very knowledgeable, helpful, and fun to work with.”
Edge security is critical in today’s hybrid workplace, and Statista reports that there will be more than 75 billion IoT devices in 2025, exponentially expanding the attack surface beyond the scope of enterprise-managed devices. With Cognitive Trust, Cisco customers can set dynamic and contextual policies for individuals, groups of individuals, or groups of devices and apply them ubiquitously across the organization.
Access permissions are controlled based on identity, role and policy according to “just-enough” and “just-in-time” access best practices. The platform learns behavior to assess risk and automatically and continuously optimizes security for enterprise and critical infrastructure organizations. Identity and AI-powered behavioral intelligence deliver better visibility and a single security enforcement policy for people and devices accessing applications and data across SaaS-based and cloud services.
“Personal and IoT devices are often attacked within the first few minutes of connecting to the network, making real-time, proactive protection essential,” Winebrenner said. “Unlike other access control platforms, where traffic must be piped back to a central chokepoint or a cloud service for policy enforcement, Micro Edge enforces policy on the switch in real-time. It turns the switch into an SDP gateway and makes transactional segmentation possible, dramatically reducing risk.”
Availability
For a limited time, Elisity Micro Edge is available as a free Proof-of-Concept (PoC) with white-glove deployment over customers’ existing infrastructure. For customers who choose to purchase a multi-year agreement, the first year will be waived by Elisity (offer valid thru May 31st 2022, terms and conditions apply).