Open Network Featured Article

With cloud-based systems' use increasingly on the rise throughout the business community, it's not a great leap to note that we need better security on those systems to help ensure the data contained therein doesn't fall into the wrong hands. PLUMgrid has one terrific new option for those putting containers and OpenStack cloud systems to work in its recently-launched CloudSecure system.

CloudSecure comes packed with features geared toward protecting these systems, mainly by making the proposition of monitoring security for virtual networks easier. The CloudApex Security View, for example, allows network operators to visualize the overall flow of security, and any new behaviors can be quickly spotted, singled out, and responded to as necessary. A micro-segmentation system makes it easier to create the “zero-trust domain,” which makes it easier to shut certain parts of the system off from others and contain a malware spread before it can proceed farther than it already has.

With CloudSecure, policies can be enforced at several levels, whether at the tenant level or even at the container level. Plus, with those policies in place, a virtual tap system can be put in place, allowing traffic to be more readily mirrored. That mirrored traffic can be interacted with in several ways, each with an eye toward protecting the larger network. The system even accommodates encryption tools as well as the ready addition of third-party security options to get the fullest protection of the system in place.

PLUMgrid CEO Larry Lang commented “Data centers are increasingly built on ephemeral infrastructure that only lasts for hours or days, instead of months or years. CloudSecure provides significant protection for increasingly ephemeral, multi-directional traffic flows in container and OpenStack Clouds. Combining it with CloudApex's simplified visualizations that make it easy to monitor and diagnose breaches, enabling our customers to benefit from the agility and flexibility of these technologies without having to struggle to secure the network infrastructure.”

Indeed, there's a lot of change going on in infrastructure, especially as so much of it is contained remotely. That can make for some impressive cost savings and even access to new tools and functions, but it doesn't come without a note of risk. That's why proper security measures for cloud-based systems are so important, and why tools like CloudSecure take on a whole new importance. The sheer variety of defensive measures involved in CloudSecure makes it versatile and suited to take on several potential threats. That versatility also makes it more valuable overall, and improves the chance of use.

CloudSecure may not be a magic bullet solution to all potential security issues, but for OpenStack and container systems, it may be just the cure a lot of users have in mind.