The modern digital landscape is ever evolving. This means that you don’t only need a robust approach to your security, but you must also be able to adapt it to dynamic networking environments. This is where SASE (secure access service edge) comes into play, offering a unified approach to networking and security.

In this blog post, we will shed light on the reasons to embrace SASE and how it can safeguard your business now and in the longer term.

The appeal of SASE

There’s no doubt that SASE is becoming the go-to solution for future-proofing business networks by converging networking and security services into a unified, cloud-based architecture. SASE effectively mitigates many of the more pressing challenges your business needs to address, such as secure access to applications and resources regardless of their location, consistent security policies, and simplified network management.

However, you also need a solution to adapt and scale over time to support the needs of your business as they evolve. With SASE, you also acquire much-needed scalability and flexibility and stand to enhance your security posture—while enabling ongoing digital transformation. So yes. Vibing now. And building a relationship to last.

With that said, SASE is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Getting the most from it takes the right input and communication. Creating a solution that is future-proof means establishing some shared goals and desired outcomes upfront.

Achieve your SASE relationship goals with managed services

Implementing SASE can be complex: it requires careful planning, coordination, and implementation across various components, such as cloud-based security, software-defined networking, zero trust architecture, and identity management. There are also many questions to be addressed: how will the existing infrastructure be appropriately assessed? Are the right security policies already in place? How will compatibility with different platforms and applications be assured? Are network scalability and performance fully considered in the deployment?

When leveraging the expertise of managed service providers—which is where a partnership between CBTS and Palo Alto Networks® can add value—you alleviate all sorts of challenges. You bridge critical skills gaps and gain access to the ongoing support and guidance you need to ensure not just the ideal implementation but the continued success of your SASE investment over time. By choosing CBTS and Palo Alto Networks, you get a comprehensive and secure SASE solution without burdening internal resources—enabling you to focus on your core objectives while leaving the complexities of network security to trusted professionals.

Balance simplicity with resilience

Finding that sweet spot that balances strong security measures with streamlined operations means an enhanced security posture that doesn’t impact operational effectiveness or drain strategic resources. CBTS and Palo Alto Networks address this challenge through our combined expertise. Palo Alto Networks Prisma® SASE combines cloud-delivered security and next-gen SD-WAN into a unified solution to secure all apps and users irrespective of their location. Prisma SASE consolidates multiple point products, including ZTNA, cloud SWG, CASB, Firewall as a Service (FWaaS), and SD-WAN, making it easy for organizations to reduce the fragmentation of security and networking tools. This future-proof solution allows for integrating new technologies and provides scalable deployments. It provides a secure and flexible network environment and ensures you don’t have to choose between delivering optimal security or an ideal user experience.

Mitigating risk and helping ensure compliance

Cybersecurity is a continuous process requiring constant vigilance, awareness, and a proactive approach. Part of the attraction of SASE is that it deploys new configurations all the time, which empowers you to stay compliant with your security policies and resilient.

With Prisma SASE, you get protection. In addition to the obvious benefit of simplified management, one additional attribute is the ability to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) across your security, networking, and user experience management, all unified from the same data lake. Only then can you benefit from a deeper level of defense and the rapid response to emerging threats for true protection. The round-the-clock support provided by CBTS and Palo Alto Networks drives more proactive risk mitigation and ensures a secure environment you can trust.

Future-proof the security of your business with managed SASE

SASE represents the future of network security, offering you a comprehensive and future-proof solution that shouldn’t lose its appeal in a hurry. But you might need a helping hand along the way. By choosing CBTS and Palo Alto Networks, you can gain a comprehensive suite of products and industry-leading support. You’ll get a SASE solution tailored to your needs, offering network management transformation, strengthened security posture, and reduced costs and complexity. And with the flexibility to integrate new solutions and scale effortlessly, you can smoothly adapt to evolving conditions, protecting your business in the long term while allowing you to focus on key outcomes, reduce risk, and ensure availability.

To find out how to ensure the best possible position to navigate the complexities of SASE adoption and make sure you can unlock its transformative benefits, contact CBTS.

Trends and statistics from the 2023 cyber threat landscape

As the cyber threat landscape evolves, humans remain the top target of threat actors and are targeted more aggressively than in previous years. The two most significant ransomware attacks of the year (to date)—the MGM Resorts and the MOVEit hacks—highlight hacking techniques that don’t use new AI-generated phishing e-mail or deepfake voice technology, but rather plain old-fashioned trickery. The depth and breadth of the MOVEit breach is impressive. The number of companies and the size of the organizations impacted are significant. Major organizations—including the Department of Education and TIAA-CREF—have been hit to the tune of millions of disclosed records.

While MOVEit didn’t sway the SEC to update its cyber rules for 2023, the SEC did add regulation regarding how many days an organization had before reporting material breaches. Publicly traded companies only have four business days to notify the SEC when they have a material breach.

The most popular attack vector is still e-mail. An estimated 90% of cyberattacks begin with a phishing e-mail. The chance of a successful breach increases dramatically when paired with a “vishing” attack (voice phishing). IBM found that vishing attacks were three times more likely to succeed than phishing alone.

This companion post to the above Tech Talk reviews these recent breaches and the implications of the updated FTC and SEC cyber rules. Additionally, we’ll summarize some basic steps to avoid being the victim of a ransomware attack.

Exploring the MGM and MOVEit breaches

On September 11, 2023, MGM Resorts reported a cybersecurity issue. For the next ten days, the resort company lost access to and control of various devices in their IT environment—from slot machines to room keys. Cashiers even had to issue handwritten receipts. By September 20, MGM reported that operations had been restored with “intermittent” issues. In early October, they notified guests that criminals had gained access to sensitive data, including some social security numbers. So far, it’s estimated that MGM lost over $100 million in the attack.

A sophisticated social engineering attack to reset a password with vishing caused the devastating breach. The cybercriminal called tech support and impersonated a high-level employee to gain access to their credentials. The criminals did their research and were able to impersonate the employee well enough that the tech support team believed the attacker.

The MGM hack comes on the heels of the MOVEit breach earlier this year, the implications of which are still being revealed. MOVEit is a file transfer service used by organizations worldwide. The latest estimates say that over 1,000 companies had systems exposed due to this zero-day vulnerability. Initial reports of the issue came in May of this year, and the vendor had a patch ready days later. The exposed organizations include government branches, public universities, the New York Public School system, and the BBC. Additionally, over 60 million user records were exposed, and countless lawsuits are underway.

Navigating the new SEC cyber rules and FTC Safeguards update

The MOVEit event and other large-scale attacks prompted the SEC to change its cybersecurity breach disclosure rules. Now, organizations must report material breaches—namely those incurring significant financial damages or risks to customer data—within four business days to the SEC. There are exceptions, but only as they pertain to national security. These cyber rules and regulations take full effect by the end of this year, but companies should ensure they are ready to comply, as the SEC is beginning to dole out punishments for non-compliant CISOs. We will closely watch this precedent-setting development unfolding in 2024 and beyond.

Additionally, the FTC safeguard rules went into effect this year. These rules require companies with long term financial relationships with customers to have a real cybersecurity program in place—one that manages data compliance programs for organizations such as colleges, payday lenders, car dealerships, etc. The revised regulations update the 20-year-old Gramm-Leach-Bliley Safeguards Rule—designed to “develop, implement, and maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of customer information.” The changes expand on the original act pertaining to breaches affecting 500 or more people within the non-banking finance space.

Also read: Data protection and managed backup for secure cloud organizations

Emerging threats to the cybersecurity landscape

Generative AI and deepfake technology are improving the sophistication of cybercriminals.

Generative AI helps create more believable, error-free phishing e-mails. This complicates the threat landscape because, previously, grammar mistakes were often an indicator of phishing attempts and a key component of anti-phishing training. Call ID spoofing allows bad actors to imitate reputable organizations or people. And now, high-quality voice and even video call imitations could soon bring a new level of plausibility and danger to the threat landscape for a very low price—think a $5 monthly fee—to launch a high-quality voice vishing campaign.

Also read: Seven security pitfalls of legacy applications and environments

CISO strategies for responding to emerging threats and vulnerabilities

ked Chris how he would mitigate the risks involved in these recent breaches. His answer included:

• Utilize a zero trust framework to enhance segmentation and understand network risk.
• Implement an engaging, memorable, and continuous cybersecurity training program.
• Remain diligent at all times.
• Align your cybersecurity program to a well-known security framework, like NIST CSF or CIS Controls.

Ryan emphasized one of the core tenets of zero trust, which is “always verify.” John recommends deploying the “standard blocking and tackling of cyber defense”:

• Encrypt sensitive data at rest and motion.
• Dynamic, tested backups and disaster recovery systems in place.
• Develop an instant response plan that is not overly complicated but informed by security standards.
• Continuous, evolving training that implements penetration testing as well as phishing and vishing testing.

All three experts recommend gentleness and providing additional training for employees who fail simulated phishing and vishing attempts.

Ryan expanded, “A lot of companies stop at just sending the phishing e-mail and saying, ‘Hey, you got phished.’ Instead, follow up with additional training for those individuals, whether video-based or computer-based assessments. Nobody wants to be the point of an intrusion; be that person who let that access happen. But having followed that up with additional training sources is key to that whole awareness process—not just doing the phishing connection.”

Read more: Top five cybersecurity actions to take right now

Cybersecurity solutions from CBTS

As we have seen, 2023 has already proven a momentous year for cybersecurity with the constant evolution of cyber-attacks and the new SEC rules and regulations. CBTS cybersecurity experts can help future-proof your defense posture and avoid devastating breaches like the MGM Resorts and MOVEit Breach. Get in touch to schedule a vulnerability assessment.

What exactly is zero trust, why should we care about it, and how does an organization implement it? The answer is simple. In today’s interconnected world, where companies store many of their assets outside of their organization, the traditional “castle and moat” security model no longer suffices.

Implementing a zero trust philosophy is essential for reducing the risk to the enterprise or organization. Additionally, federal agencies are now mandated to adopt zero trust, which will likely cascade into other industries and service contracts. This blog will explore the foundations of a successful zero trust architecture and how to approach implementation for the best results.

What are the tenants of zero trust?

The National Institute of Standards and Technology devised a set of standards for adopting processes that will authenticate and authorize user network access across all federal agencies, and ensure users accept those mechanisms.

Zero trust is not a technology, nor can any single vendor implement it for your company. It’s helpful to think of it as a philosophy that must be adopted and implemented across the entire organization to give your clients, employees, and customers peace of mind over the information they give you to do business.

Trust no one

Zero trust is a philosophy that assumes you have, or very soon will experience a breach and thus relies on a security environment where no one inside or outside your network is trusted. Verification is required from everyone trying to access your network and assets. Hence, zero trust.

Verify everything and everyone

Every access request must be explicitly authorized, regardless of whether it’s a user, device, application, or data. The authorizations behind these requests must be dynamic and based on contextual information, such as the health of the end-user device, data sensitivity, location, and threat environment.

Limit access

If an enterprise finds itself under attack, access decisions are modified accordingly. Encryption is used both in transit and at rest, and networks are segmented and controlled to prevent lateral movement by adversaries.

Monitor closely

Finally, the integrity and security posture of all resources remain constantly monitored to inform access decisions.

Where to begin

First, consider your governance, which includes your policies and procedures within your organization and how they may apply to any of your zero-trust principles.

You also have a policy engine that handles your automation and orchestration within the organization as you mature your processes. To achieve a more mature model, you must continue to take processes and automate them, producing an increasingly stable foundation.

The third layer is analytics and threat detection, which is visibility into your environment. Seeing across all of these pillars is very important to feed data into the policy engine and governance areas.

Implementing a zero trust architecture

How do you implement a zero trust identity architecture based on the NIST reference architecture?

Users on their endpoint attempting to access a resource must go through a policy enforcement point such as a firewall, cloud access security broker (CASB), or secure access service edge (SASE) enforcement product. The resource can be Azure, Salesforce, or even the Internet if data loss protection needs to be enforced.

To establish identity, you can use Azure AD, Okta, One Identity, or pinging, among other identity management solutions. You should also interrogate the device to ensure it has the appropriate posture, patches, and endpoint protection solution using Manage Engine or Microsoft Intune and security analytics like CrowdStrike, Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Sentinel, or Splunk to aggregate the information into your SIM tool.

Various firewall vendors like Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Checkpoint, Cisco, Microsoft Defender, and Netskope can be used as policy enforcement points.

The result is continuous trust verification, threat monitoring, endpoint validation, risk assessment, and location and time-based verifications, making it a critical component of zero trust.

Zero trust philosophy in the Cloud

For simplicity, we will focus on AWS, but these philosophies can apply to various cloud platforms, such as Google, Azure, or AWS.

Understanding how to implement a zero trust architecture involves a traditional three-stage approach.

A user enters through the front-end web application firewall into the public subnet of the web tier. From there, they pass through load balancing to a private subnet for the application tier. And finally, they arrive at a database backend (in this case, Aurora, Amazon S3, and Glacier).

• Segmentation is crucial to reduce blast radius. In this case, apply segmentation at both the public and private subnet levels. Security groups also play a significant role in this architecture, acting as a dynamic firewall. Since static IP addresses aren’t always available, security groups ensure only the applicable web tier servers can reach the application tier servers.
• Authentication leverages mutual TLS running through every communication with the help of Amazon’s Certificate Manager. Congnito also plays a role in ensuring all users are authenticated. AWS Identity and Access Management controls roles and access to resources.
• Detection uses platforms such as Amazon CloudWatch monitoring logs and Guard Duty to acquire threat intelligence. Implementing these measures brings together all seven tenants from NIST in a single application deployment.

Establishing a solid security foundation

In implementing a zero trust architecture, it is crucial to establish a solid security foundation, shifting from a traditional perimeter-based security model to one that focuses on securing every user, device, and network resource, wherever they are.

The NIST and CISA zero trust models are great examples to use as an architectural blueprint. It is also essential to assess your current maturity across the various pillars to see what you already have in your toolkit that you can reuse and function within the environment.

Starting with identity is also a great way to establish authentication—achieved through tools like Azure ID, pinging, or Okta. Data classification is also critical in designing a zero-trust philosophy.

Prioritizing and controlling sensitive data through a data classification policy ensures you can label and identify where it needs to go and how you want to keep the reins on those things. Remember that this is a journey and not a product, so prioritizing and protecting the data is key.

Safeguard your personal use of IT at home

In an age where cybersecurity threats lurk around every virtual corner, it’s imperative to apply the principles of zero trust not only in corporate environments but also your personal use of IT at home.

So, what can you do at home to fortify your digital defenses and stay safe in this interconnected world?

• Start by adopting a skeptical mindset, assuming that no device or connection is inherently secure.  
• Regularly update your operating systems and software to patch vulnerabilities, and employ strong, unique passwords for every online account.
• Implement two-factor authentication wherever possible to add an extra layer of security.
• Be cautious when clicking on links or downloading attachments, even if they appear to be from trusted sources.
• Utilize a reputable antivirus program and keep it up to date.
• A more advanced step is to segment your home network to isolate smart devices from critical personal information, ensuring that potential breaches don’t compromise your sensitive data.

By embracing zero trust practices in your everyday digital life, you can create a resilient fortress for your personal IT security.

Learn more about CISA Secure Our World campaign for safeguarding your personal devices.

Deploy your zero trust architecture with CBTS

The product landscape has become inundated with zero trust platforms and applications. Partnering with an IT solutions provider to guide you in how to implement zero trust solutions successfully is more important than ever.

While no single vendor can perform all protection information, CBTS has many offerings designed around zero trust, including assessments, roadmaps, architecture planning, implementation services, and managed services. Using an external group for 24/7 threat management is essential for most organizations.

The experts at CBTS are here to guide your organization as you develop, deploy, and maintain your zero trust architecture. Contact us today for more information about how zero trust can take your organization’s security posture to the next level.

Network security is a double-edged sword in application modernization (updating legacy apps to run smoothly in cloud environments). On the one hand, improved security is one of the core benefits of app modernization. On the other hand, it can be one of the most significant hurdles organizations must clear to securely modernize legacy applications successfully.

The forces driving the need for modernization—the disruptor economy, data compliance regulations, and the push for speedy and elastic cloud-native development—are also pushing cybersecurity to adapt. Development is no longer linear, DevSecOps requires a coordinated team approach. Therefore, security processes that once worked in a linear model need to adapt to the process of continuous deployment.

This post will explore the primary benefits of modernizing applications. Additionally, we will review some of the challenges of cloud security and how cybersecurity itself is changing to address these areas of friction.

Learn more: The methods and motivations behind cloud application modernization efforts

The challenges of cloud security

Identity and access management (IAM)

Before complex network structures became common, a single firewall was often effective in securing an organization’s data centers. However, as data centers migrate off-premises and into the Cloud, this approach is no longer effective. Each cloud environment, each application, and in fact, each user represents a potential security risk. While firewalls still very much have a place in cloud security, the overall emphasis of cybersecurity has necessarily shifted to become identity based.

Identity and access management (IAM) is complex, especially for larger organizations that may host thousands of cloud-based identities. Managing and monitoring so many users is a tall order for in-house IT departments who, understandably, have bigger fish to fry (like innovation and supporting mission-critical ops). Nonetheless, identity management is vital, as user identities and their permissions are common targets of hackers.

Learn more: Zero trust networks (ZTN): What are they and how do I implement one?

Tensions between IT security and DevOps

In a report from GitLab, 42% of respondents said that security tests come too late in the development cycle. DevOps’ focus (and arguably its purpose) is to speed up application development through continuous deployment, emphasizing speed and efficiency. In contrast, cybersecurity teams focus on control and risk mitigation.

These two objectives can appear to be at odds and can cause tension between Development and Security teams. Ultimately, each team aims to maximize its respective performance. The development of DevSecOps (development, security, operations) provides an approach that accounts for both operations’ approaches. DevSecOps integrates and automates these three key functions, where possible, making your application modernization journey successful.

Solutions to cloud security issues

Cloud identity management

Robust IAM control must be in place to increase the enterprise’s application security posture.

• Embrace a zero-trust approach that enforces ID authentication with MFA.
• Establish and enforce identity governance protocols across the digital estate, on-prem and in the Cloud using CASB (cloud access security broker).

Culture

For cloud security to be effective, every employee must become a firewall. Training and security leadership has never been more critical. Organizations should adopt the following practices:

• Deploy multifactor authentication (MFA) for passwords.
• Encrypt sensitive data at each state, at rest and in motion.
• Test and pinpoint vulnerabilities with regular penetration testing.
• Maintain data compliance and adopt a regular patching schedule.

Automation

Automated tools powered by AI offer a unique opportunity to implement security tools and testing sooner in development. Developers don’t have to run these tools themselves, with automated and integrated DevSecOps guidance from the security team as part of the process.

DevSecOps and shifting left

The development cycle itself has become a challenge to security and vice versa. When software development was more linear, following the waterfall method, the natural place for security was neatly at the end of the process. However, as DevOps becomes increasingly circular and embraces agile app development techniques, it no longer makes sense for security to be an afterthought. Security must be involved much earlier in the process and integrate with development itself.

This situation has led to the rise of DevSecOps methodology. This framework aims to implement security earlier into the application development process, or “shift security left” on the X axis of the development timeline. DevSecOps promises to merge speed and security and reduce friction between DevOps and security in the process.

Making sense of application security for your organization

App modernization is not optional for most companies—therefore, application security must become a priority. A failure to migrate operations to the Cloud may result in dire consequences in the form of a significant security breach, slowing infrastructure, or being outpaced by digitally mature competitors. Without question, modernized applications are far more secure than legacy apps. But, as we’ve discussed, the move to a cloud-native methodology poses specific challenges, causing IT leaders to rethink cybersecurity and move toward a DevSecOps framework.

What is abundantly clear is that organizations must embrace security partnerships to establish and maintain a strong security posture. CBTS security experts continuously train to stay apprised of developing cyber threats and vulnerabilities. Our portfolio of security solutions includes managed security, assessments and testing, cloud security, and zero trust setup and support. Speak to one of our experts to learn more about how modernizing your applications can boost your company’s overall security.

If you are looking to build stronger cybersecurity into your business network, where does enterprise data security rank on your to-do list? Zero trust can help with that. It is one of the most fundamental yet most crucial steps you can take to protect your enterprise.

When I think about cybersecurity, I try to keep it simple and focus on the key items that are crucial to a successful cybersecurity strategy. A key component of any strategy is to figure out where to focus your efforts. For cybersecurity, you start by focusing your efforts on what you are trying to secure. Do you need to secure a system, a person, a device, a process, or just the data?

As I talked about zero trust last year at conferences and CIO roundtables, it helped people understand how to get started when I had them focus on the basics—namely, keep access to your confidential data restricted and keep your data secure from modification or destruction.

Enterprise data security protects your most valuable asset

The biggest risk currently to your data are cybercriminals or malicious insiders who attempt to steal or encrypt your data. Zero trust data security emphasizes a shift from “trusted networks” to the least-privilege principle that no network or device may be implicitly considered secure and that all traffic on the network or device must be encrypted and authenticated at the earliest opportunity.

Those of us in the information security field—CISOs and BISOs—implement technologies to keep laptops, desktops, and servers free from viruses and malware, but we do that to protect the data on those devices or systems. We secure the device to make sure that only authorized individuals can access the data that device can view.

We secure the device but what we really care about is the data. We do not really care about the device because it is effectively disposable.

Where does zero trust fit into a data-directed security focus?

If you start with a data-directed security focus, you can leverage the power of zero trust solutions to reduce your risk of a data breach. The news is full of reports about companies and organizations that failed to put appropriate controls in place to mitigate the risk of a cybersecurity incident. I have listed four steps you can follow to simplify the problem of enterprise data security. These steps follow the NIST 800-207 Zero Trust Architecture model that the federal government is implementing with the assistance of CISA.

Read more about Cybersecurity and data privacy: the legislative landscape is changing.

First, you need to discover, classify, and label your sensitive or confidential data. You can’t secure your critical data if you don’t know where it is, how it is used, and who has access to it. By classifying and labeling your sensitive and confidential data you can see where it is, how it moves and then implement appropriate access controls using zero trust principles.

Second, now that you know where the data is, you want to implement data resiliency. For your data to be resilient you need to have it encrypted and have immutable copies of the data so that you can quickly recover from an attack. AES type encryption will preserve the confidentiality of that data, both at rest (like your backups) and in transit (from the application to end user). If the data is encrypted at rest, someone can steal it, but it doesn’t harm you or your customers. With the data encrypted appropriately and with a good 3-2-1 backup strategy, threat actors and criminals can’t exploit you by encrypting the data or extort your customers by disclosing the data.

Third, with the data identified, encrypted, and backed up, you want to grant access only to those individuals who are authorized to view the data. To do that you need appropriate access controls using the principle of least privilege, which is a key component of zero trust. Access will require at least two forms of authentication to protect against compromised credentials, so you will implement multifactor authentication (MFA). Zero trust emphasizes user-centric authentication, where MFA is essential. MFA adds an extra layer of protection by requiring users to provide multiple forms of verification before accessing systems or data. This could include something they know (password), something they have (smartphone token), and something they are (biometric scan).

The fourth and final item from the zero trust model is continuous authentication, where user activity and behavior are constantly monitored to detect anomalies. Many zero trust solutions on the market are leveraging machine learning algorithms that can identify suspicious activities such as unfamiliar login times or access from peculiar locations. These tools can be programmed to respond immediately, by either requesting further authentication or blocking access.

Protecting data can mitigate complex and dynamic attacks

Clearly, protecting your sensitive and confidential data is no longer just an option but a necessity for companies and organizations to survive and thrive in the face of relentless cyberattacks. A data-directed strategy—using zero trust solutions built on the principle of least privilege—offers a robust defense against the dynamic and complex nature of modern-day cyberattacks.

I highly recommend that you identify your sensitive and confidential data, implement strong AES encryption at rest and in transit, with a 3-2-1 backup strategy, and adopt user-centric authentication that is continuously monitored. These four keys will help you build a resilient security posture that continuously verifies users and devices while safeguarding your most valuable asset—your data.

If you need guidance for building zero trust into your enterprise data security, contact our security team.

Minimizing data security threats and keeping operations safe is a demanding task that every enterprise grapples with daily. The proliferation of employees working from anywhere increases information security risks. In addition to the risks of work-from-home computers, your on-premises network devices, phone systems, and other infrastructure elements must be updated regularly and scanned for potential vulnerabilities. Understanding and implementing patch management best practices will set your company on track for a strong security foundation.

Vulnerability management and patch management are two fundamental information security practices. Vulnerability management helps you identify potential cybersecurity risks while patching is good infrastructure hygiene. When functioning correctly, they work together to help companies find and fix vulnerabilities and help properly allocate IT resources for maximum effectiveness.

Successful vulnerability and patch management are not just one-time or occasional events. Instead, they must become full-fledged programs in your organization. Ideally, patching should be a monthly event, monitoring vulnerabilities as they are discovered. To cover all the angles of your operations, a thorough and ongoing process of assessment, preparation, deployment, and support is needed.

Best practices for a comprehensive patch management program include the following:

• Inventory applications and assets.
• Prioritize systems by risk level.
• Generate a patch management policy.
• Backup your data before deployment.
• Finalize patches in production.

Learn more: Zero day vulnerabilities and their patches: I just met a vuln named Follina

Taking the right steps

With the above components in mind, enterprises concerned about the effectiveness of their patch management strategies should be sure to carefully exercise best practices. Alternatively, organizations overwhelmed by these steps could seek an experienced patch management provider like CBTS to set up and maintain the program. CBTS can also provide guidance and support for each phase of the process.

Inventory applications and assets

An audit of an enterprise’s software environment, hardware, and assets provides a better understanding of risk, vulnerabilities, and aids in prioritizing patches. This inventory provides a topography of current systems and what areas need the most attention. Whenever new applications or infrastructure is added to your organization’s technology stack, your “patch map” must be updated to reflect the additions to the patching program. Special care should be taken to assess third-party application vendors and what vulnerabilities they are adding to your environment.

Prioritize systems by risk level

After your organization has an up-to-date picture of its entire software and hardware landscape, it can effectively assign relative risk levels to each program or system. The higher the risk level, the faster it should be addressed in your patch management strategy. Additionally, if multiple versions of redundant software have accumulated in your portfolio, these can be consolidated to mitigate the risk of exposure from outdated applications.

A managed service provider can aid in analyzing and prioritizing your inventory and deploy automation tools that reduce manual legwork.

Other factors that determine patch prioritization include:

• Data sensitivity.
• Operational importance.
• Vulnerability.
• Device group or operating system.
• Third-party vendors.

Learn more: Top five cybersecurity actions to take right now

Create a patch management policy

If your organization utilizes a third-party vendor for some of its software solutions, involving this vendor in your patch management approach is crucial. Third-party software should be kept up-to-date alongside your proprietary software to ensure that your network environment is up-to-date. Third-party applications need to be updated, just like your other systems and hardware, to plug vulnerabilities that arise.

Other factors to consider when setting up the policies of your patch management program include:

• Cadence. Mission-critical patches should be updated monthly. Third-party vendors and urgent security vulnerabilities should be patched at the same frequency.
• Review. How often will your team review patching procedures and issues? A quarterly review is recommended.
• Monitoring. How will your team monitor newly deployed patches? Were the patches applied successfully or was there an error when deployed? Test to make sure the patch was successful.
• Documentation. Best practices include documentation, such as a user testing log, backout procedures, or other checklist documentation.

Backup data before deployment

There are risks when applying new patches to a system, even when you do thorough testing. That’s why creating full system backups for the affected assets is vital before patching. This ensures that your team has a working version to revert to if there is a problem with the patch.

Test and document deployed patches in non-production environments

A vital best practice of patch management involves testing patches in a non-production environment for critical systems. This sandbox or test environment should match your actual system as much as possible—the same hardware, applications, and other assets—to ensure that any issues can be traced and fixed before rolling out to production.

Finalize patches in production

Caution is almost always preferable to speed when it comes to security. To that end, when implementing the tested patch, utilize a phased rollout where you patch your critical production servers after they clear the testing phase, then move to less critical systems. 

The patching timeline in practice

Experienced patch management as a service providers work on a 30-day timeline to ensure systems stay up-to-date. When possible, patching takes place after hours to avoid potential service disruptions. The major exception to this schedule is urgent security patches known as “out-of-band” releases. These patches are released as needed and sometimes must be implemented on an accelerated timeline.

Watch this episode of Inside the CISO’s Office where CISO John Bruggeman and Jon Lloyd discuss the unnecessary risk organizations take by missing patches, and how to patch smarter, not harder.

A managed, full-spectrum approach to cybersecurity

Establishing and systemizing the best practices for vulnerability and patch management is time-consuming. Choosing patch and vulnerability management services from CBTS gives your business more time and these additional benefits:

• In-depth vulnerability assessments.
• A 98% patch success rate.
• Inventory, analysis, and prioritization of your highest risk vectors.
• Expert guidance in creating your patch management policies.
• 24x7x365 support.

A managed vulnerability assessment and patch management program by CBTS covers every aspect of your network environment, from your endpoints to critical assets, equipment, and facilities. It also extends from the planning and deployment phases to an ongoing monitoring and auditing period, ensuring that your organization’s patch schedule is optimized for your specific needs. The security team at CBTS is home to some of the most knowledgeable cybersecurity experts in the industry. Their knowledge of cutting-edge tools and processes is ideally suited to guide your organization toward a robust cyber defense.

Contact CBTS for more information on vulnerability assessment and patch management services.

Legacy applications often lack the security safeguards of their cloud counterparts. Interestingly, in some fields, these potentially risky legacy systems are why some organizations struggle to upgrade. According to a joint report from Capita and Citrix, over 50% of CIOs believe legacy apps are holding up digital transformation efforts. In many industries like healthcare or manufacturing, dependencies on legacy applications and infrastructure create nightmares for security teams. In these fields, downtime to upgrade systems is untenable. Additionally, specialized equipment, such as MRI equipment, may rely on end-of-life (EOL) workstations that run on unsupported OS, leading to un-patchable backdoors in an organization’s network.

Despite these challenges, organizations that refuse to modernize face substantial risks. In 2022 alone, more than 25,000 common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) were discovered, the highest yearly number of exploits discovered to date. In the first quarter of 2023, almost 7,500 vulnerabilities were found by users and white hat agencies—a number that could exceed the record from 2022.

Lack of visibility, actively exploited security vulnerabilities, and incompatibility with cloud-based security tools are some of the obstacles to securing legacy applications.

Also read: Focusing on security in digital transformation

Common problems with legacy systems

1. Incompatible with new security features

Over time, the number of known vulnerabilities in any application tends to grow. Cybercriminals often subscribe to the same security blogs and databases that cybersecurity professionals read. In other words, the older an application, the more its known vulnerabilities will circulate among hackers.

Compounding this issue is the fact that legacy applications and infrastructure are often non-interoperable with the latest security features designed to combat evolving threats. Security features such as multi-factor authentication, zero trust policies, role-based access, and the modern encryption algorithms will function minimally or not at all, depending on the age of the legacy system.

In comparison, cloud application security tools simplify the process of security management—

especially in a distributed workforce—by improving end-user access, visibility by the security team, control, and access to next-gen anti-malware solutions.

2. Dependent on outdated infrastructure

At some point, updates to legacy applications are discontinued, meaning they must run on outdated operating systems or aging hardware. Like legacy applications, obsolete infrastructure is subject to security gaps that were filled by updated operating systems or newer hardware. This issue is compounded when developers stop supporting legacy systems and end security patches.

Additionally, custom-made legacy software presents its own issues. These applications may be riddled with “spaghetti code,” i.e., code that is difficult to untangle, update, or secure. In this situation, organizations might be forced to re-write and modernize the application or migrate to a comparable system that also requires migrating to new infrastructure to support it. However, with these upgrades and these investments in the future you can see that the costs are well worth the peace of mind. By investing in modern and supported software and hardware, your company will save money in the long run.

3. Lack of visibility

Another common scenario is that a legacy application might be forgotten, or it stops being useful to employees. IT teams may not even be aware that the app is there. Regardless, the vulnerabilities of these apps are still accessible to hackers. And without next-gen monitoring tools, the security team may not be aware of a breach until it’s too late to mitigate damage.

4. Risk of exposure

Exploits for legacy applications tend to increase over time as attackers learn how to attack these old systems and legacy software. Additionally, business restructuring from mergers and acquisitions (M&A) can generate orphaned systems that no one monitors anymore. For example, when FedEx bought the company Bongo, it was unaware that Bongo had an unsecured legacy storage server. A white hat group discovered a vulnerability that could have exposed over 100,000 sensitive customer documents.

5. Risk of falling out of compliance

Data compliance guidelines grow stricter as dependency on cloud storage increases due to the increased attack surface. Moreover, privacy regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA can impose heavy fines on organizations that fail to secure their customers data. A prominent example is how Equifax was fined $750 million for a data breach that exposed nearly 150 million users’ personally identifiable information (PII).

Legacy applications often fail to maintain compliance because the applications can’t meet current regulatory controls.

6. Lack of support

As time passes, the number of IT professionals trained to manage a particular application or operating system diminishes. Eventually, even the developer ends support of a legacy application, OS, or system. This means no more security patches, firmware updates, or bug fixes from the developer. Prominent software companies like Microsoft occasionally provide extended end-of-life support for critical legacy OS or applications for a subscription fee. But even this service eventually ends.

7. Loss of competitive advantages

Speed and agility are two of the most essential factors in ensuring that a business remains competitive. Reliance on aging infrastructure is not conducive to either. Organizations focused on repairing and maintaining IT systems cannot focus on achieving business vision or innovation.

Securing legacy IT systems

According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the number one bad security practice is “using unsupported software for critical infrastructure.” While there are piecemeal security solutions for organizations forced to rely on legacy applications, modernizing them is the only real way to secure legacy IT applications and infrastructure entirely.

The experts at CBTS can help you assess options and execute a modernization plan. Our team has guided hundreds of clients on their digital transformation journeys. Secure, modern applications and infrastructure are the springboards our clients use to become more efficient, streamlined, and profitable. Speak with one of our project managers to learn how your team can utilize cloud infrastructure to speed up and secure your critical applications.

Get in touch today!

The importance of security assessments and penetration testing is well established. And just when an information security department thinks they have a handle on the security of their company’s operations, try introducing merger or acquisition. What can be—and often is—a monkey wrench thrown in a company’s information security works, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) can introduce a foreign entity into the network and information infrastructure, usually with aggressive timelines.

The chaos and confusion of these events make it difficult to keep track of systems and data, as well as the added task of integrating new web applications—both internal and external-facing—into the organization’s infrastructure.

Given the additional complexities of an M&A event, performing security assessments both before and after a merger is crucial to understanding the new overall security footprint.

Also read: Essential security practices to protect your business

The importance of assessing your security posture during M&A

The critical nature of regular security assessments during M&A was on public display when, in 2016, Marriott International acquired Starwood Hotels. Unbeknownst to Marriott, attackers had exploited a flaw in Starwood’s reservation system two years earlier.

Over the next couple of years, they:

• Incrementally compromised over 500 million customer records (133 million of which were American customers).
• Were in immediate trouble with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and with new GDPR regulations in effect from 2018, were fined over £18.4 million ($24 million USD at the time of writing). 
• Marriott now faces an ongoing class action lawsuit from the customers whose data was compromised.

In 2017, Verizon’s acquisition of Yahoo! highlighted two very significant data breach nightmares—undisclosed to Verizon by Yahoo!—that also put on public display the critical nature of penetration testing during M&A events.  

In the first breach, an attacker stole the personal data of at least 500 million users, including some unencrypted passwords and answers to security questions. In the second breach, 1 billion accounts were compromised, and users’ personal information and login credentials were once again stolen.  

Yahoo! tried to defend itself from liability by saying the passwords were hashed with MD5 (a message-digest algorithm) but by 2017, MD5 had already been deemed obsolete since it is easily cracked to reveal passwords with off-the-shelf computer technology at the time. 

In the wake of the Verizon-Yahoo! M&A landmine, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was prompted to issue new guidelines for cybersecurity disclosures so neither shareholders, customers, nor acquiring companies are kept in the dark about a data breach.

The unfortunate part about these M&A disasters is that they were unforced errors that could have easily been prevented with security assessments and penetration testing. These two vital services would have revealed the critical vulnerabilities attackers were exploiting and created a high likelihood that a security consultant would have discovered evidence of the previous breaches and leakage of data before the M&A activity began.

Also read: Why continuous penetration testing is critical for security

First steps for an effective security assessment

A security assessment can evaluate either a security architecture or a security program. Or both.

Assessing a security architecture involves measuring an organization’s infrastructure and practices using well-established security best-practice standards, such as the CIS Critical Security Controls.

Security program assessments measure an organization’s security policy and risk using a well-established security framework, such as NIST Cybersecurity Framework. Both CIS and NIST are mainly interview-based, meaning the assessor interviews the organization’s information security team, and each of the controls in the framework is answered and discussed.

The result of these interviews is a findings report that the customer can use to understand how they compare to their peers in the same industry. In addition, the security architecture assessment has another component: a hands-on test of an assessor tool against the organization’s “gold” workstation and server deployment images.

The results of this assessor tool’s run are integrated into the final report. The report will identify areas where the company’s architecture is sound and where they have gaps with standing best practices.

Also read: How to focus on security in a digital transformation

The significance of penetration tests during a merger and beyond

Penetration testing can be time-boxed or continuous. Time-boxed penetration testing has a start and stop date, resulting in a report that signals the end of the activity. While time-boxed penetration testing offers significant value and could have easily prevented the aforementioned M&A disasters, they are no longer considered best practice given how quickly new vulnerabilities are exploited.

They are, in essence, a snapshot in time. Continuous penetration testing is, as the name implies, the process of continuous scanning and attempted exploitation of systems, resulting in periodic reports that can be compared to each other to show delta.  

Operate at the gold standard

Today, continuous penetration testing is considered best practice. The periodicity of the continuous testing will quickly reveal vulnerabilities that are inadvertently introduced during the M&A process, whether through the phased integration of the acquired party’s systems and applications, or through attempted remediation of vulnerabilities identified in a previous penetration test run. These efforts can be implemented either in-house or through a managed service.

If your company is about to embark on a merger or acquisition, it is crucial to conduct security assessments and penetration tests on both your infrastructure as well as the M&A target’s infrastructure.

It is the only way both entities will know what they are getting into and the work needed to shore up network infrastructure before the M&A happens.  CBTS is a trusted third party that has not only an industrial-strength information security practice, but also a dedicated penetration testing team that offers services ranging from security architecture and security program assessments to time-boxed penetration testing, and managed continuous penetration testing. If you have questions about how a security assessment can benefit you, contact us.

What exactly is SASE (pronounced “sassy”)? It’s a framework that unites security and networking in a cloud-based model, combining software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) with secure service edge (SSE) technologies. SASE benefits an organization by simplifying and strengthening its security fabric, boosting efficiency, and simplifying WAN deployment. It is evolving to include a portfolio of security tools, including VPN/ZTNA, EDR, CASB, DLP, and a host of new emerging AI tools.

Each SASE and SD-WAN vendor offers slightly different features, so it’s not uncommon for organizations to utilize multiple security and networking solutions to create a customized security strategy. However, managing several vendors quickly becomes overwhelming for overworked IT departments. A managed service provider (MSP) like CBTS can help your organization choose and implement as many solutions as necessary for your operations while maintaining a single point of contact.

Learn more: What is SASE?

What SASE means today

SASE increasingly relies on zero trust network access (ZTNA), a security philosophy that only gives users access to systems and applications as needed. ZTNA is a broad approach, but in essence, it involves the following:

• Identity management.
• Multi-factor authentication.
• Application and device management.

A vital tenet of ZTNA is the concept of “least privilege access,” which monitors user IDs, device IDs, and application IDs for anomalies. For example, if a user who logs into a Salesforce account at 9 a.m. in Chicago and then tries to log into the same account from Germany at 10 a.m., this activity is blocked as impossible and suspicious.

Additionally, as SASE evolves, it has grown to incorporate other security tools, including:

• VPN clients.
• Remote SWG clients.
• Multiple site east/west firewall.
• CASB/DLP.
• EDR/XDR.
• MDR/SOC.
• Malware/threat prevention (signature and IP reputation).
• New AI/machine learning technologies.

Learn more: 2023 Strategic Roadmap: The Future of SD-WAN

Single platform vs. best-of-breed

Leading technology vendors like VMware and Palo Alto offer various SD-WAN and SASE solutions. Some vendors consider SD-WAN and SASE to be the same thing. While there is a good amount of overlap between the two, there are enough differences to be meaningful. Choosing a single vendor for SASE and SD-WAN has the benefit of simplicity and lowering operational complexity.

But what if there are specific tools that your organization needs from rival vendors? Then your IT will need to manage several platforms and risk tool sprawl. But a managed service provider can deliver integrated solutions from multiple vendors in a customized best-of-breed approach. This approach offers the best of both worlds—simplified operations while accessing the highest quality tools.  

Top benefits of a managed SASE solution

1. Cost efficiency

Managed services eliminate the need for upfront technology spending and significantly reduce overhead. Managed SASE shifts the expense model from CapEx to OpEx. Additionally, managed SASE allows IT departments to realign from maintenance tasks to innovative, mission-critical projects.

2. Access to experts

Your IT department likely houses many skilled professionals. However, security requires up-to-the-minute knowledge of the increasingly sophisticated threat landscape. CBTS security experts constantly monitor and adapt to emerging threats. In addition, they can guide your company through the thorny issues revolving around data compliance.

3. Mitigate security risks

It’s not enough to simply access next-gen security tools. Your company needs the experienced hand of security professionals to implement those tools according to the highest priority threats based on ZTNA and data compliance frameworks. Managed SASE significantly improves security across all users.

4. Increase visibility and control across hybrid environments

Managed SASE provides greater visibility across the whole of your digital estate. Closely monitor applications, users, and data flow. What’s more, managed SASE lets you take control of user profiles or application traffic when needed.

5. Simplify security operations

Merging networking and security with a managed SASE solution simplifies IT operations for the enterprise. There’s no need to update hardware at each location; all that’s needed is an Internet connection.

6. Free up IT resources

Implementing, managing, and maintaining SASE tools require time and resources. Sustaining relationships with vendors takes even more time. MSPs remove these burdens and allow your IT team to refocus on more important tasks.

7. 24x7x365 support

A high-quality MSP supports your business through each phase, from consultation to deployment to support. CBTS managed service experts provide day-two assistance for their clients and 24x7x365 technical support, as well as response, remediation, and SOC (Security Operation Center) capabilities.

8. Custom solutions

Utilizing the CBTS best-of-breed approach, you gain access to the best tools your organization needs, regardless of the vendor. Our team can advise you on what services, bundles, and solutions make the most sense for your company and then implement and manage those solutions. While being vendor-agnostic, CBTS maintains relationships with industry-leading technology vendors that our experts can leverage to seek the best pricing possible. Additionally, you will avoid the tool sprawl associated with deploying multiple security and networking tools by leveraging CBTS as your single point of contact for your organization.

9. Flexibility

Managed SASE solutions are easily implemented at any location and for remote work environments. CBTS service managers continuously update, upgrade, and manage SASE platforms to ensure the highest quality of service. Security policies can be customized based on user groups, personas, or roles.

10. Security on a global scale

SASE is ideal for a hybrid world. Admins can set security policies from a central cloud-based platform for every branch globally. They can easily add new branches or implement multi-factor authentication. Build security standards that apply to your business, regardless of where the user works.

Managed SASE is a future-proof investment

Managed SASE benefits your organization in many ways, including a cost-effective increase in ROI, reduced operational complexity, and greater security regardless of where your staff is located. While taking a single vendor approach to SASE management has its benefits, in the end, the logical conclusion is to seek out a best-of-breed provider that can offer custom solutions while maintaining a single point of contact.

The MSP you select for SASE implementation must have security and networking experience. CBTS is deeply experienced in both areas, with extensive relationships with leading security vendors, including Check Point, VMware, and Palo Alto. By combining multiple, best-of-breed SD-WAN and SASE solutions, CBTS delivers complete cloud-based security while streamlining access and control for our clients.

CBTS experts work from the assessment phase to the implementation of your SASE capabilities to provide ongoing, full-spectrum support for your organization.

Contact us today to level up your approach to network security.

The security landscape of the digital workplace

As the paradigm of work has permanently shifted, hybrid and remote work are here to stay. Even companies that have returned to “normal” operations face enormous pressure to offer hybrid options. The need for cloud telephony and collaboration tools has exploded in this environment. Various Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solutions have evolved to meet demand.

UCaaS platforms effectively unite collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams Voice or Webex Calling by Cisco with cloud-based telephony. It’s safe to say that, eventually, every industry will run its communications through a unified solution that utilizes a cloud collaboration environment. This development seems to be the progression arc of modern communications technology, and it’s overwhelmingly popularity among employees in every industry.

But with the emergence of UCaaS as a primary form of corporate communications, the demand for advanced security measures has increased. The increased reliance on cybersecurity insurance, HIPAA, and other regulatory requirements demands data is protected, driving the push for enhanced security practices. Additionally, the trend to merge UCaaS with Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) platforms means that security controls must be robust and flexible, as well as deployable across multiple environments and platforms.

This post will briefly examine the technologies driving the digital workplace and delve into the security threats to UCaaS and the security tools evolving to face them. 

Learn more: SD-WAN and NaaS from CBTS pays off for alternative financial services companies

Threats and challenges of UCaaS security

Security is one of the chief benefits of embracing a Unified Communications system. On-premises data centers require enormous upkeep—patching, firmware updates, upgrades, replacements, and firewall maintenance. UCaaS shifts the burden of security to the managed service provider who holds expertise in maintaining security.

The move to managed services isn’t found only in collaboration or telephony, but in all sorts of workloads and Software as a Service (SaaS) applications. Organizations want the same benefits of on-premises equipment without overloading their in-house IT team.

Even though cloud-based infrastructure and applications are more secure than their on-prem legacy counterparts, the move to the Cloud brings its own set of security challenges. The core threats to the digital workplace are the exploding complexity of hybrid networks and the increased sophistication of cybercriminals. Remote work multiplies the number of devices, connections, and applications interacting with your business network. Each user represents a potential security weakness.

Additionally, video conferencing and collaboration tools have their unique security concerns. Threats like “zoom bombing” and sophisticated eavesdropping techniques mean data, recordings, and connections should be encrypted end-to-end. 

Also read: Nine compelling benefits of a CBTS managed cloud environment

UCaaS security solutions

Next-gen security tools

The next generation of security tools, particularly SSE/SASE, is about delivering cloud firewall services, CASB, ZTNA, and cloud secure gateway services to any device. The shift in thinking is from building a “wall” around the organization to building one around each user. SASE is necessary in addition to Microsoft Security Protocols (native in MS Teams, MS Suite, etc.), SaaS, and custom-built apps.

Other emerging technologies include:

• EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response): Next-gen, AI-powered antivirus platforms that flag irregular user activity in location, action, or time.
• CASB (Cloud access security broker): Multi-cloud API flow monitoring and threat detection that merges with data loss prevention (DLP) tools.
• Device identification and management: Gives admins greater control and visibility into the devices connected to their network at any given time.
• Secure gateway: Restricts access to dangerous sites and malware.
• Patching as a Service and vulnerability scans: IT admins push out patches through the network. CBTS can refine the process and boost patching success rates through testing.

Additionally, CBTS deploys these tools by following emerging security concepts like zero trust networking access (ZTNA) which mitigates risk by limiting access to only what’s necessary for each user.

Seamless integration

Many organizations lack an appropriate number of solutions to defend digital processes properly. However, the inverse is equally true for many companies. As more security tools emerge, an IT department may suddenly find itself managing a portfolio of five, six, seven, or more platforms. Tool sprawl is a challenge for even the most seasoned IT professional. In response, industry-leading companies like Palo Alto and Cisco are pushing to condense and merge their security offerings.

Working with a managed services partner like CBTS eliminates this issue. CBTS will partner with your organization to help select the right solution for your business and manage that solution—all while serving as the primary contact.

Single-pane-of-glass controls

The need for simplified controls also accompanies the push for integration. Vendors are working to make this a reality for their companies by creating an easy-to-use dashboard that controls multiple tools or works across vendor platforms. CBTS can design custom dashboards to help you manage multiple tools and vendors.

AI and machine learning

Advances in AI are fueling faster threat monitoring, identification, and remediation. Machine learning tools navigate the growing complexity of UCaaS solutions and the rest of the digital workplace to root out developing malware threats in near real-time.

Compliance management

Compliance movements like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) stateside are forcing IT leaders to rethink compliance management. Working with a managed service provider like CBTS removes stress by putting the onus of keeping up with evolving legislation and cybersecurity standards on the service provider.

Also read: Data protection and managed backup for secure cloud organizations

Selecting a digital workplace security partner

As discussed in this post, it’s only a matter of time before most companies must design and deploy a UCaaS solution to manage their communications effectively and ensure an efficient digital workplace. IT leaders should select managed service providers with broad shoulders. Why not partner with a managed services provider that can implement workplace solutions while ensuring maximum security through next-gen tools and emerging security concepts such as ZTNA?

CBTS offers full-spectrum solutions that support each phase of your digital transformation journey. Get in touch today to learn how CBTS UCaaS solutions and security measures can help your company thrive.