Forward Networks Adds New Verification Capabilities to Make Hybrid Multi-Cloud Networks More Secure

Forward Networks announced new capabilities within the Forward Enterprise platform that give security and network operations professionals a single, actionable and contextual view of the network.

By integrating with Rapid7, a leading provider of security analytics and automation, Forward Networks is combining end-device vulnerability data with robust and always-up-to-date connectivity analysis to help enterprise organizations address the challenges of the security talent shortage and flood of unactionable data. The combined data uniquely positions security teams to prioritize remediation efforts with mathematical accuracy.

“Forward Networks is the only company with a mathematically-based network digital twin that can accurately model current and possible network behaviors, information critical for security teams who need to act quickly and accurately,” said David Erickson, Co-founder, and CEO of Forward Networks. “With this information just mouse clicks away, security teams can better assess the vulnerability of their network and prioritize remediation and prevention efforts by focusing on the exposures that present the greatest possible risk. Modeling a diverse group of hardware vendors, cloud providers, and integration partners, Forward Networks uniquely serves the needs of network, security, and cloud operations teams with a single source of truth so they can work strategically and proactively.”

There are many tools that evaluate device vulnerabilities, but without the knowledge of how that device is connected to the network, security teams only have a limited view of potential exposure. Often, they choose to focus on keeping devices up to date no matter what vulnerabilities are detected, or they focus on vulnerabilities without considering the exposure of individual systems and devices. With the Rapid7 integration, Forward Networks is the only company that can show an organization’s actual risk including on-premises, multi-cloud, and SD-WAN in an actionable single screen. This type of data presentation helps teams focus on the work that will have the most impact on the network.

In addition to the Rapid 7 Integration, Forward recently enhanced the security posture matrix and added Layer 7 (L7) application and user ID connectivity analysis to the platform to give security teams a comprehensive look at the security posture. New capabilities include:

• Enhanced flexibility to define security posture matrix: In addition to using firewall zones to determine areas with full connectivity, partial connectivity or full isolation, the posture can now be defined using network entities like VRFs, on-premises, and cloud subnets, and cloud security groups.
  
• L7 Security Analysis: To help offer administrators more granular control and visibility, Forward Enterprise now supports L7 path search capabilities. Administrators can use the same procedures as L2-L4 path tracing to construct intelligent queries that deliver detailed connectivity and security posture also when security policies are defined using Layer 7 constructs like URLs, App-Ids, User-Groups, and User-Ids. Time saved on defining the problem can be spent solving it and proactively enhancing network performance.

Forward Enterprise is designed to simplify the management of large, complex, multi-vendor networks. It mitigates the biggest issue businesses face with network operations: risk. By creating a mathematical model of the entire network infrastructure, the software delivers a “digital twin” that serves as the single source of truth for the network. The actionable information presented in the platform helps engineers ensure their network is agile, predictable, and secure.

Forward Networks’ new security features and Rapid7 integration will be available in July, and will be offered as part of standard licensing at no additional cost.