{"id":269426,"date":"2020-07-01T07:10:21","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T12:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webscale.com\/?p=269286"},"modified":"2023-12-29T08:16:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T13:16:14","slug":"securing-a-distributed-edge-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webscale.com\/blog\/securing-a-distributed-edge-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Securing a Distributed Edge Network"},"content":{"rendered":"

Security for edge computing is ipso facto a large and complicated topic.\u00a0In our\u00a0previous post<\/a>, we looked at challenges specific to security at the edge. In this one, we\u2019ll take a look at some of the ways in which the edge can be secured.<\/em><\/p>\n

A\u00a0Kollective Distributed Devices report highlighted in TechRepublic<\/a>\u00a0recently showed that two-thirds of IT teams see edge computing as a threat to their organizations. Just over half of respondents said they expect to encounter challenges in ensuring complete security across all edge devices.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s involved in edge security?<\/h3>\n

There are multiple components involved in edge security at all levels of the edge continuum, including those listed below.<\/p>\n

Perimeter risk management<\/h4>\n

As application architectures are becoming more distributed, the attack surface is growing. Millions of devices with a wide range of operating systems and update schedules are being brought into the enterprise, and workplace IT organizations need robust perimeter risk management strategies to secure them. These include:<\/p>\n

Web Application Firewalls (WAFs)<\/strong>
\nWAFs block certain kinds of network traffic and allow legitimate traffic through. This prevents potential attackers from being able to communicate with your applications and services, thus preventing many types of security exploits.<\/p>\n

There are\u00a0various ways to sort traffic into legitimate or unsafe categories<\/a>. One way is through layer 3 firewalls, also known as network firewalls, which filter traffic based on the TCP\/IP stack. Another approach involves layer 7, the application layer. This approach allows you to filter traffic based on the application or application service that the traffic is trying to reach, and the specific contents of that traffic.<\/p>\n

Intelligent WAFs<\/a>\u00a0automatically block threats based on your application\u2019s unique threat profile.<\/p>\n

Encrypted tunnels<\/strong>
\nVirtual Private Networks (VPNs) have become highly popular for enabling geo-blocking on websites and services, and bypassing government censorship without giving away who is doing the bypassing. A VPN does this by creating a tunnel between the end user and the Internet encrypting the Internet connection.<\/p>\n

In the instance of\u00a0Stunnel<\/a>, the most commonly used tool for encapsulating arbitrary data in an encrypted tunnel, OpenSSL is used to create an encrypted tunnel. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, which is the same encryption used to encrypt web pages.<\/p>\n

Access control (virtual and physical)<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s essential to use access control to:<\/p>\n