The Always-On Alternative
Applications or drivers that run on the end user's PC--software firewalls--usually act as a kernel shim. The software intercepts the data being passed between the kernel and network card drivers, inspecting all network traffic passed through it.
There are two major types of software firewalls: port blockers and application blockers. Port blockers, which include the built-in Windows 2000/XP firewall and the IPtables on Linux, work just like gateway or Internet firewalls and can block communications only to or from specific TCP/UDP ports.
Regrettably, port blockers are useless on the desktop. For one thing, you'd have to open a wide range of ports for a user to take advantage of his or her most common applications. What's more, these firewalls can't distinguish between Internet Explorer and a hostile program sending traffic over Port 80.
To realize the benefits of cloud-native software, an application must actually be cloud-native—designed to run in the cloud, interacting with disaggregated cloud services, fully manageable as code—to deliver the expected benefits.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
