Could SDN actually be more valuable in home networks?
Can you guarantee that none of your computers contain viruses or malware? I don't really think anyone could say for sure that all of their Internet-connected devices are 100% safe. The same can be said of vulnerabilities, new ones are found almost every day and if you have any IoT devices it's almost guaranteed that they have some sort of security flaw. So every time you turn on a computer and connect to your home network you risk compromising every other device in your network. The main reason is that home networks are essentially flat, meaning every device has unrestricted access to every other device. Your home network is basically like an M&M, hard on the outside and soft on the inside. Most home routers do a reasonable job of protecting your network from direct access from the Internet by using NAT, which only allows connections to go out to the Internet but not in. That's fine if all the threats were on the outside, but if any of your devices have been compromised then they are free to attack all your other devices and send that information out of your network. That could include photos or video feeds, banking details, confidential documents, passwords, work related information, etc. So what can you do?
One option from a network perspective (of course after solutions like strong passwords, Anti-Virus, etc.) is separating your devices into different network segments. It sounds complex because normally it is. Buy a second wireless router and plug it into your existing router and then put all your sensitive devices onto that network, then double NAT to the Internet if required. But it does make it difficult if you need to actually use the devices in the segmented network because you now have opened up access to get to them. So does Software Defined Networking offer a solution? Isn’t it only for Enterprise networks? I have put together a report where I explore how a centralized SDN solution could help secure your home network and protect your devices, you can grab a copy below.
Click here to download your FREE guide
Leave a comment
Comments will be approved before showing up.
