Versa Networks
May 7, 2020
Why not keep the WAN you already have? Why migrate to Secure SD-WAN? In a nutshell: to remove complexity and inefficiencies from your network operations; to use an architecture tailored specifically to address the heightened security needs and altered traffic patterns in your network. The typical legacy WAN branch office contains a tall stack of boxes: WiFi, switch, router, WAAS, security appliance. And if you already have an SD-WAN deployed, then also an SD-WAN box. A lot of boxes, consuming power and space. Tracing the path of a packet through this quagmire, fully 60% of the processing is duplicated in…
Versa Networks
April 23, 2020
After several weeks of quiet, especially during the Christmas holidays, the Emotet malware bot is up and running again, and it seems stronger and smarter. Several IT security firms have reported seeing phishing emails delivering Emotet via malicious Word documents and even delayed holiday e-greetings. Cyber-attackers using Emotet seem to have used this brief hiatus to improve the malware’s social engineering abilities, with almost a fourth of infected emails being sent as replies to existing email threads. Designed initially as a banking malware, the Emotet Trojan was first identified by security researchers in 2014. The malware delivery botnet spreads itself…
Principal Security Architect
April 15, 2020
Server Message Block or SMB is a protocol used extensively by windows. It allows windows computers to communicate, locate file servers, locate and communicate with windows networks services and even communicate with other operating systems that understand the SMB protocol. The latest version of SMB is SMB version 3 which is affected. Over the years numerous vulnerabilities were discovered in the protocol which were actively exploited and used by malware authors to build ransomware, cryptominers, SCADA malware etc. MS08-067 saw the rise of the Conficker worm, MS10-061 was used by the infamous Stuxnet malware and MS17-061 was used by ransomware’s…
Sales Engineer
April 13, 2020
Part 3 of a 3 part series (read Part 1 and Part 2) So, with the default configuration with minor LAN and NGFW customizations, what was I capable of using now at my home office? Always on VPN to corporate whether I was wired or wireless at my house Multi-link WAN with LTE providing me backup services to have 99.99% uptime for all my devices Prioritize my voice, video conferencing, O365, SFDC, Virtualization applications over Netflix, Hulu, PlayStation Network, Google Play Music, Spotify and other social media-oriented applications Secured my Internet with not only a NGFW but URL reputation and…
Principal Security Architect
April 9, 2020
Versa Security Lab recently analyzed couple of malware samples which arrives on a computer through phishing emails containing documents with embedded link which eventually leads to the download of the malware. Some of these may arrive through websites pretending to provide information on the recent Corona virus outbreak. The past few months have seen several malicious webservers and domains being set up, purportedly serving information on the Covid-19 virus outbreak. Most of these sites are hosts to ransomware and other malware types. In this blog we are going to look at one sample which encrypts files contents and updates the…
Sales Engineer
April 9, 2020
Part 2 of a 3 part series (read part 1 and part 3) Now, my journey. I requested a Versa Cloud Services Gateway appliance, specifically the CSG750-WLA (that’s our 750 series appliance with an integrated Wi-Fi AP (Access Point) and an integrated cellular modem for LTE). I submitted a request to our Versa Titan operations team [sent an internal PO] to create my organization and provide me with licenses for 4 sites – each license was the Versa Titan CSG750-Advanced Security software license. The Advanced security license provides routing, SD-WAN, NGFW, URL Filtering, AV and NG-IPS [for those who are…
Sales Engineer
April 8, 2020
Part 1 of a 3 part series (read part 2 and part 3) Throughout my entire career of 20+ years I predominately have been a work-from-home employee through various roles I have held. As part of #WFH the need for secure and either on-demand or constant connectivity to corporate resources is a hard requirement in order to do my job effectively. Over the last 20+ years how, where and what I need access to have changed quite dramatically. In summary a lot of these resources are now off-net [ e.g. email, SharePoint, Skype, CRM, PRM, collaboration and communication applications [conferencing…
Versa Networks
April 2, 2020
Fiserv is the biggest financial company you may never have heard of. Every non-cash financial transaction that you conduct touches their network. Security is paramount for you—the consumer; for Fiserv’s clients—financial institutions, point-of-sale and payment industries in more than 100 countries; and for Fiserv’s global corporate network. Look at the staggering numbers on the right! If a company this size can successfully deploy a Secure SD-WAN, then the early adopter phase must be long over. It is. Mainstream companies like Fiserv are now deploying SD-WAN technology to manage—or survive—this era of rapid digital transformation. Which is not necessarily super-disruptive: SD-WAN…
Versa Networks
February 14, 2020
After a successful exit with one of the top SD-WAN companies some have asked why I joined Versa Networks. History has shown us that industry disruptions often occur in waves. The first SD-WAN wave of infancy was made up of a number of pure-play startups (including Versa) who entered and helped form the market. The second wave could be referred to as the wave of insanity. The market exploded to nearly 80 vendors many of which were jumping in to “pivot” some or all of their business to SD-WAN. There were quite a few others who simply put an SD-WAN…
Versa Networks
December 3, 2019
Addressing the optimization and security of branch access to cloud-hosted mission-critical applications and workloads, in a dynamic, simplified and automated manner, is essential for contemporary business operations. Secure SD-WAN services enable enterprises to create an enterprise-wide cloud-network fabric that accelerates modern day application consumption demands and supports enterprise digital agility, speed and security, all while ensuring and improving end-user experience for productivity, collaboration and business services. Versa Branch (Versa VOS™ (formerly FlexVNF)) and Headend (Director, Analytics, Controller [Versa VOS™ (formerly FlexVNF)]) are supported on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. The process of instantiating the Headend topology can be automated using a Cloud Formation template…
