In a recent announcement, Aerohive Networks (News - Alert) has stuck out its neck to offer a solution for Internet of Things (IoT) security for Wi-Fi and wired networks.
“Utilizing Aerohive’s Software Defined PPSK technology for secure access by devices that do not have AD accounts has helped us tremendously in keeping our network secure,” said BJ Stahlin, senior WAN administrator, Ingram Entertainment Inc. “In contrast with WPA2/PSK, where a single password is shared by many devices on the same SSID, Aerohive’s PPSK can enable granular authentication with a unique password for each device.”
The solution is built on Aerohive’s Software Defined LAN (SD-LAN), and addresses the recent IoT attack vulnerabilities by putting security protection right at the point where IoT traffic first touches the network.
“IoT, with the proliferation of billions of relatively low-sophistication devices, increases the attack surface of the LAN like never before,” said Zeus Kerravala (News - Alert), principal analyst, ZK Research. “This requires strengthened network access controls, including real-time application control and visibility, IoT-supported, secure-authentication methods such as PPSK, granular device policy enforcement at the edge, and centralized reporting and monitoring tools. This should all be accomplished without introducing additional complexity for IT administrators.”
This provides a first line of defense for businesses against IoT malware. Key capabilities of the solution include protecting wireless access networks with next-generation Software Defined Private Pre-Shared Key (PPSK) that restrict network access to specific known and authenticated devices, application visibility and control to evaluate what is really happening on the network, firewall enforcement based on deep packet inspection to strictly enforce traffic policies, and cloud management to enable immediate identification and response to an issue anywhere in the network.
“Organizations need an IoT-security solution before their Wi-Fi-connected water cooler or some other thing calls Moscow,” said David Greene, chief marketing officer, Aerohive Networks. “Most networks today are too brittle to deal with the exponential growth of IoT. Aerohive’s SD-LAN solution brings adaptability and security to the network, building on our Wi-Fi access points, switches, and cloud management that is designed to protect the network from the inside and out.”