Press Releases

Uncoordinated Policy Management Listed by Gartner as a Network Security Worst Practice

AlgoSec Helps Enterprises Mitigate Nine Out of the 12 Worst Network Security Practices

February 10, 2015



Boston, MA – An insightful, new research report from Gartner identifies 12 commonly-observed network security worst practices that reduce network availability, increase expenditures or risks, and alienate end-users. A complimentary copy of the report, which is available on AlgoSec’s website, also includes short and long term actionable guidance to help companies avoid these practices. AlgoSec, the market leader for Security Policy Management, is highlighting how the AlgoSec Security Management Suite can help enterprises avoid or mitigate nine out of the 12 worst network security practices in a special blog series

In the research note, Gartner Analysts Andrew Lerner and Jeremy D’Hoinne commented, “Over the course of more than 3,000 client interactions in the past year, Gartner has observed several common network security “worst practices.” Further, clients often underestimate, or are even unaware of, the potential negative impact of these practices. CISOs should assume that their organizations suffer from at least some of these issues and work to avoid them. Avoiding these practices will improve security posture and increase network availability and user satisfaction. Furthermore, most of these practices can be achieved without making large capital investments.”(1)

Some of the key worst network security practices identified in this report include: the shiny new object syndrome, insufficient focus on users and business requirements, defense with inadequate depth, security blind spots, uncoordinated policy management, and hazardous network segmentation.

“More than ever before, network security teams must respond quickly to enable changing business requirements, while at the same time protect the organization against evolving threats. Just as Gartner states in the report, ‘“Due to the rapid pace of change it’s easy for IT security teams to focus on emerging technologies – the “shiny new toys” – at the expense of best practices for their existing technologies, people and process,”’ said Nimmy Reichenberg, VP of Strategy at AlgoSec. “We believe that AlgoSec’s security policy management suite, which delivers unique, application-centric visibility and automation across virtual, cloud and physical environments, can help companies avoid or mitigate nine out of the 12 worst network security practices identified in Gartner’s insightful report, ensuring security, compliance and business agility.”

About AlgoSec

AlgoSec empowers organizations to manage security at the speed of business. Through its application-centric approach, AlgoSec automates and simplifies security policy management across virtual, cloud and physical environments to accelerate application delivery while ensuring security. Over 1,000 of the world’s leading organizations, including 15 of the Fortune 50, rely on AlgoSec to streamline change management, optimize firewall and network access configurations, mitigate risk and ensure continuous compliance. AlgoSec is committed to the success of each and every customer, and provides the industry’s only money-back guarantee.

(1) Source: Gartner, Avoid these “Dirty Dozen” Network Security Worst Practices, by Andrew Lerner, Jeremy D’Hoinne, January 8, 2015.