Cisco Secure has unveiled the future of simple and effective security with infrastructure agnostic, passwordless authentication by Duo. Integrated seamlessly into the existing Duo authentication experience used by more than 25,000 organizations globally, Duo passwordless authentication will enable enterprise users to skip the password and securely log into cloud applications via security keys or biometrics built into modern laptops and smartphones.
The consequences of using passwords are well known. Passwords are easily compromised and difficult to manage, costing enterprises billions of dollars annually. Users are inundated with passwords in their personal and professional lives. Password reset requests comprise a lion’s share of IT help desk tickets, resulting in lost productivity for users and increased support costs for the business.
Duo passwordless authentication is part of Cisco’s industry-leading zero trust platform, securing access for any user, from any device, to any IT application or environment. The product is designed to be infrastructure agnostic, paving the way to a passwordless future while ensuring that enterprises can seamlessly protect any combination of cloud and on-premises applications without requiring multiple authentication products or leaving critical security gaps.
Duo passwordless authentication will:
- Simplify and strengthen authentication for accessing cloud applications protected by Duo single sign-on (SSO) and third-party SSO and identity providers, by leveraging security keys and platform biometrics such as Apple FaceID and TouchID, and Windows Hello. Pairing passwordless authentication with Duo SSO enables organizations to consolidate hundreds of passwords and authentications into one easy login for users to cloud applications.
- Provide one security tool for all authentication scenarios thanks to Duo’s compatibility with hundreds of applications and identity providers, with no infrastructure change required.
- Reduce risk of password-related threats and vulnerabilities such as phishing, stolen or weak passwords, password reuse, brute-force, man-in-the-middle attacks and password database compromise.
- Add layers of security to the authentication with device health and behavior monitoring controls via Duo’s secure access product suite, further reducing risk in the event a biometric is stolen or not effective.
- Reduce administrative burden of password-related help desk tickets and password resets.
Cisco has also unveiled a new comprehensive SASE architecture, delivering complete protection from endpoint to the cloud.
Cisco has also launched a new, expanded Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) offer. This is the next important step in Cisco’s journey to radically simplify security and networking by helping network operations (NetOps) and security operations (SecOps) teams securely connect users to applications. Additionally, Cisco has also announced enhancements to its cloud-native platform, SecureX to more quickly and effectively manage new and emerging threats.
The global events of the last year have made working from anywhere the norm. This trend has increased the complexity of managing networks and security. As the hub shifts from the data center to the user, a SASE architecture has emerged as a top organizational priority.
Cisco SASE Today and In The Future
Cisco delivers all the building blocks of a SASE architecture, including networking, remote access, cloud security, zero trust network access and visibility. Today’s launch provides the ability to purchase these core components of the SASE architecture all at once, with the flexibility to easily transition to a single subscription service in the future, so organizations can get started right away with Cisco’s integrated architecture.
Cisco provides all the building blocks of a SASE architecture, including best-in-class networking, remote access, cloud security, zero trust network access, and observability.
Cisco has introduced the ability to purchase all core SASE product components in a single offer with the flexibility to easily transition to a single subscription service in the future, enabling organizations to start using Cisco’s integrated architecture immediately.
In addition, Cisco continues to rapidly deliver features that unlock new SASE use cases, including:
- Data Loss Prevention: Cisco Umbrella data loss prevention (DLP) enables organizations to discover and block sensitive data being transmitted to unwanted destinations, while preventing data exfiltration and supporting compliance mandates.
- Remote Browser Isolation: Cisco Umbrella remote browser isolation enables users to safely browse websites while protecting end user devices and corporate networks from browser-based exploits.
- Cloud Malware Detection: Cisco Umbrella cloud malware detection finds and removes malware from cloud-based file storage applications. As more organizations move business-critical data to cloud-based applications, they need to ensure that users can access them, even from unmanaged devices, and that those cloud applications are safe.
- Observability: Part of the new SASE offer, ThousandEyes’ internet and cloud intelligence continues to enable organizations’ visibility and actionable insights into every network, from any user to any application, so they can remediate incidents quickly and maintain reliable connectivity and digital experience.
Continued SecureX Innovation to Radically Simplify Security
In addition to simplifying the SASE journey for customers, Cisco is also on a mission to further simplify and protect against emerging threats. Cisco is now delivering complete protection from endpoint to the cloud with SecureX platform enhancements that reduce dwell time for SecOps and automate tasks involved with detecting and remediating threats. New automated workflows include SolarWinds supply chain attack investigation, phishing investigations and threat investigations using latest intel from Cisco Talos, one of the largest commercial threat intelligence teams in the world.
These enhancements reduce time to detect threats by 95 percent, and time to remediate by 85 percent. Building on the numerous Cisco technology integrations in SecureX ranging from Cisco Secure Endpoint to Cisco Umbrella, the open platform also provides turnkey configuration with more than 35 third-party technologies including Google, ServiceNow, Splunk, and more.
On top of adding simplicity at the platform level, Cisco is also announcing integration and automation at the endpoint. Cisco Secure Client, a newly integrated connector for Cisco Secure Endpoint, AnyConnect, and Umbrella, simplifies deployment and management for greater efficiency and efficacy. Cisco Secure Client serves as a local control point and early warning system for advanced threats in solutions such as SASE, Zero Trust, and Extended Detection and Response (XDR).