For many manufacturers, the data center remains at the heart of their IT infrastructure. So, protecting it—inside the traditional security perimeter—is essential.
The bigger challenge is securing the new perimeter. As data is dispersed across multiple types of infrastructure, devices, applications, and locations, the network edge is expanding—and so is the attack surface.
And it will continue to grow. Connected supply chains and machines will generate much of that growth. IoT devices bring another potential problem: being ‘set and forget’, they are often not patched to fix their inevitable vulnerabilities.
At the center of all this change are applications. They provide the catalyst for digital transformation, but also vary greatly. Many organizations run a combination of new native cloud applications, legacy systems, and off-the-shelf software.
This diversity of applications and devices adds further complexity. It often means managing and protecting complex multicloud environments—all interconnected with each other and the data center. As a result, the risk profiles of today’s data centers are now at an unprecedented level. And mitigating these risks is a huge challenge.