Migrating Security into the Network

When service providers offer protections in the network, updates can be installed in minutes when new threats are discovered, removing the latency advantage attackers currently enjoy. Better still, the process can be completely automated.  A few servers protecting hundreds of millions or even billions of subscribers can be updated continuously without any human intervention.  This is far simpler and more effective than managing updates for individual Internet devices.  Internet users don’t have to do anything at all, and the solution requires dramatically less bandwidth and processing power, which is critical for the rapidly growing mobile Internet. 

With protections in the network, it is easy to defeat attackers that move their servers around by tracking them based on their domain names (using the URLs in the links they embed) rather than their IP addresses.  Protections are also pervasive.  Any device that accesses the Internet can be protected whether or not it has security software, and any application can be protected too. 

Network-based protection can be more comprehensive.  Today, a variety of organizations and companies track Internet threats and make their lists available to service providers and others.  Each employs a different methodology to track malware, which is important because this diversity increases the probability that every malicious site is cataloged.  In fact, the value of diversity and of aggregating multiple threat lists has been proven in the fight against spam and will work similarly in the fight against web-based malware. 

Network-based protections sound compelling, but what will it take to make them work?  The good news is that a system is already installed across the Internet that could make a great starting point.  It is always available, has proven performance, and scales beautifully.  It employs a lightweight protocol that was specifically designed to handle continuous updates, even under heavy loads.  Every device that accesses the Internet supports it, and every Internet transaction already depends on it.  It’s the Domain Name System (DNS).  With a few small steps, we can induct the DNS into the fight against malware and rapidly realize enormous gains. 

About Tom:
Tom is the Chief Executive Officer at Nominum (www.Nominum.com). Tom came to his current role after serving as Nominum's President and COO. Previously, Tom was the Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Business Development at Nominum. He holds B.B.A. in finance from the University of Houston and a J.D. from Stanford University.