Over the last few months, ransomware attacks and cybersecurity issues have been pushed from the headlines into our daily lives – affecting everything from fuel supplies to food. For many of us this is the first time we’ve stopped to consider the everyday implications cyber attacks can potentially have on our lives.  On May 12, 2021, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order (EO) on “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity”. The new EO “calls for federal agencies to work more closely with the private sector – to share information, strengthen cybersecurity practices, and deploy technologies that increase resiliency against cyberattacks.”

The intent of the order is clear – to start the process of modernizing the federal government’s cybersecurity practices, in particular software security, as fast as possible.

In response to the EO we’ve created a document that outlines some key areas where Pensando Systems can help both private companies and government agencies. If you’re interested in learning more you can find the document here.

The Pensando Distributed Services Platform is uniquely positioned to deliver software-defined visibility, network, and security services via a highly programmable, centrally managed architecture implemented at the server edge. Since it is securely isolated from server resources, the Pensando platform can be used to address several key requirements outlined in the EO:

• Zero Trust network security
• Encryption of data in flight
• Extended Detection and Response (XDR): aligning network telemetry with endpoint telemetry to detect attacks in a data center
• Long-term network telemetry to provide a source of truth for investigating and remediating risks and incidents

Now available in the form of a Distributed Services Switch the Pensando platform can meet these goals with zero impact on the server itself and no changes required to the underlying network. Server resources are freed to scale for workload hosting while the Pensando Distributed Services Card (DSC) data processing units host these mission-critical services. Although the directives outlined in this executive order are primarily aimed at both the Federal Government and its service providers, the recommended changes and investments can be a guideline for private sector entities looking to strengthen their own security posture and evaluate how they coordinate with their IT and OT partners.