With the multitude of threats facing businesses today, one layer of security simply isn’t enough. Because of this, your IT department uses a variety of tools to protect your network and the machines on it from attack.
One new layer that we’re excited to offer is Cisco Umbrella. Let’s take a look at this tool and see how it boosts your security.
What Is Cisco Umbrella?
Cisco Umbrella is a cloud security platform that forms a first line of defense against threats to your company. Other security measures, such as antivirus programs on workstations, or physical firewalls, are of course important. But Cisco Umbrella forms a defensive line at the first port of call for any traffic entering or leaving your network — DNS.
We mentioned DNS when we discussed how connecting to a website works. Essentially, DNS translates human-friendly website names (like msn.com) into computer-friendly IP addresses (like 123.45.67.89). Any potential attack on your network must go through DNS first, so securing it is vital to defense.
Thus, adding Cisco Umbrella is like putting an armed guard at the entrance to your network. And if anything does manage to get in, Umbrella prevents it from calling home.
Easy Deployment
Many security tools are difficult to implement, as they require lots of configuration and setup. This isn’t the case with Cisco Umbrella — most users report that they can set it up for a new customer in about an hour. It’s also easy to scale, so your IT provider can introduce it for new clients without much additional burden.
It’s also simple to set up the service for customers worldwide. So even secondary business locations halfway across the world can enjoy the same protection with minimal hassle.
Reduce Malware Attacks
Of course, the big reason to use Cisco Umbrella is to increase security. This is a win-win for everyone involved; your company won’t suffer from potentially damaging attacks, while your IT provider doesn’t have to dedicate as much time to malware cleaning tasks.
Cisco has a vast amount of internet traffic data at its fingertips, with hundreds of billions of DNS requests going through its servers per day. This pool of data allows it to quickly identify and neutralize threats before they become an issue.
Powerful Filtering
Cisco Umbrella includes options to filter various kinds of malware. These include phishing attacks, which attempt to trick people to hand over personal details, as well as suspicious websites.
One important and timely filtering option blocks cryptomining. This is a new type of malware that uses your computer’s resources to mine for cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. It’s a waste and usually done without consent, so blocking it is important.
Umbrella also doesn’t scan domains known to be safe, which would only slow down your users’ traffic. Instead, it intelligently scans when needed, ensuring that you experience minimal slowdown.
Other Important Features
Cisco Umbrella’s powerful reporting features lets you quickly figure out where threats came from so you can take action if needed. With its multiple points of protection, your employees stay protected no matter what device or network they’re using, even if they’re offsite and not using a work VPN.
And since it’s all based in the cloud, you don’t have to worry about your own hardware becoming a bottleneck. You rely on Cisco’s powerful infrastructure with it.
Overall, Cisco Cloud provides a simple, powerful, and scalable security solution for small businesses. With easy setup, powerful reporting, and protection everywhere, it’s a vital part of keeping your network safe. It’s rare to get such incredible benefits for relatively little work and cost.
Contact us today if you’d like to talk about Cisco Umbrella for your business.