Juneteenth symbolizes freedom and resilience. Cisco's Chief DEI Officer, Gloria Goins, takes us on a journey through Juneteenth's history, her personal connection to the holiday, and into the heart of what this day means for us all.

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Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom and a testament to our shared humanity. Let’s come together to honor the past, embrace the present, and build a future where every voice is heard and every talent shines.

Following another successful Cisco Live! experience, I am still in awe of the many conversations I have had surrounding the importance of inclusion and pursuing purposeful work that builds business values. Reflecting on the importance of this upcoming Juneteenth holiday and what it means to me, Cisco’s purpose to power an inclusive future for all echoes as we sponsor the Juneteenth Atlanta Parade and Music Festival for the third year in a row.

Why we celebrate Juneteenth

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, marks the moment on June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, when the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, were informed of their freedom. This day serves as a pivotal point in African American history and represents a profound testament to the enduring spirit of a people who have tirelessly advocated for freedom and equality.

For me, Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom and a testament to our shared humanity. As I think about my journey as the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer of Cisco, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge how my father’s journey contributed to making me who I am today. He immigrated to the United States from the Bahamas in the 1940s with only a sixth-grade education and a superhuman work ethic. He often worked multiple low wage jobs, all while enduring the harsh realities of racial segregation and stereotypes. Despite having limited opportunities, his faith, joy, and hope were boundless. The foundation of hard work and determination he instilled in my brothers and me played a tremendous role in all that I’ve accomplished so far.

This holiday serves as a time to celebrate the strength, resilience and determination of my own family and the families of those whose dreams were denied or deferred. Although rooted in African American history, Juneteenth’s core values of freedom, resilience, and equality transcend cultural boundaries and resonate universally. Embracing it as a national celebration reinforces the idea that freedom and justice are not exclusive to any one group but are inherent rights for all.

Amplifying Underrepresented Voices

As we celebrate Juneteenth, it is crucial to listen to and elevate the stories and experiences of African Americans and other marginalized groups.

We can do that by:

Supporting Black-owned businesses.
Investing in Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Explore how we are partnering with HBCU’s like Clark Atlanta and others to drive impact as part of Cisco’s Social Justice Actions.
Seeking out the expertise of Black voices who are missing from the table.
Advocating for the career advancement of Black employees through sponsorship and The Multiplier Effect.

A Call for Reflection and Action

Juneteenth calls upon each of us to be change agents in the ongoing fight for equality and justice. Being a change agent requires a commitment to continuous learning and unlearning, recognizing our own biases, and actively working to dismantle them. Whether you’re attending the Cisco sponsored Juneteenth Parade in Atlanta, one of the many celebrations happenings across the United States or gathering with your family and friends, I hope you’ll find time to reflect on ways that you can champion change in your community. May we ground ourselves on the daily reminder that the fight for freedom and equality is ongoing and requires the collective effort of all people to embrace and honor our shared humanity.

Wishing you a happy Juneteenth! May it be filled with joy and purpose!

"}]]  Juneteenth symbolizes freedom and resilience. Cisco's Chief DEI Officer, Gloria Goins, takes us on a journey through Juneteenth's history, her personal connection to the holiday, and into the heart of what this day means for us all.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

This blog delves into two crucial issues for EU policymakers to enhance Europe's cyber resilience: unsupported connected devices within critical infrastructure networks and the handling of discovered vulnerabilities by government agencies.

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In the thrust and parry of cyber resilience, the European Union (EU) has forged a legal framework made of many pieces to fortify its digital defences. Yet, there remain two clear weak spots in Europe’s collective armour: the presence of unsupported connected devices within critical infrastructure networks and the opacity surrounding the handling of newly discovered, or obtained, vulnerabilities by government agencies.

In this blog, I delve into these two crucial issues for EU policymakers to enhance Europe’s cyber resilience.

Unsupported Devices: A Cybersecurity Liability

Devices that were once technological marvels can become liabilities as they age beyond their support lifecycle. Consider the healthcare or energy sector, where the stakes are incredibly high if connected devices at the brink of obsolescence are still in the system. The time is now for EU policymakers and critical infrastructure operators to address the hidden dangers of out-of-date technology.

The statistics are stark and unyielding: a 2020 NTT study unveiled that nearly half of the devices within global organizations’ networks were unsupported or nearing obsolescence. In 2017, unpatched and end-of-life software enabled the WannaCry ransomware attack to infect 300,000 machines around the world, from telecom networks in Spain and hospitals in the United Kingdom, to car manufacturing in France. Such incidents show us what may come if action is not taken.

Patching Up Europe’s Cyber Defences with Binding Requirements

Patching software is a fundamental security tenet. Most cyber-attacks exploit known vulnerabilities, not new ‘zero-days.’  In 2022, 76% ransomware attacks exploited vulnerabilities that were already discovered before 2020.  The concern only becomes more acute when you consider unsupported devices. Not only are organisations’ IT and security teams stripped of the option to update the devices in their network as the patches do not exist, but no-one except the malicious actors is even looking for vulnerabilities in the devices. They are sitting ducks.

Cisco’s Security Outcomes Study (2021) surveyed 5,100 security and IT professionals who placed a proactive technology refresh strategy at the pinnacle of factors ensuring a successful security program.

The EU has already laid the groundwork with the NIS 2 Directive (Network and Information Systems Security Directive) and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). The former mandates critical infrastructure operators to ensure their organisation is cyber secure, and the latter requires manufacturers to ensure their products are secure throughout their natural lifecycle. But neither provide guidance on technology that has outlived that phase.

A binding measure to retire and replace unsupported devices is the remaining critical piece of the puzzle yet to be placed. This is a low-hanging fruit in Europe’s cyber resilience policy toolkit, and it should be part of Europe’s foundational security base.

International Models for the Handling of Unsupported Devices

Looking globally, we find best practices that underscore the urgency of implementing such policy in the EU. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in the U.S. and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in the U.K. both advocate for the removal of obsolete products from networks. Japan’s Economic Security Law of 2022 goes a step further, compelling operators to submit equipment introduction plans, with further detailed policy prohibiting the use of unsupported devices.

Vulnerability Disclosure: A Government Grey Area

The EU must also scrutinise the handling of vulnerabilities by government agencies. With the burgeoning market and utilisation of zero-day vulnerabilities, there is a tangible risk that governments may opt to retain such knowledge for intelligence or law enforcement purposes, rather than disclosing them. The NIS 2 Directive encourages Member States to adopt Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure (CVD) policies, but it remains silent on the issue of government exploitation of these vulnerabilities.

Historical precedents, such as the Heartbleed bug and the CIA’s vulnerabilities exposed by WikiLeaks, illustrate the perils of nondisclosure. Studies suggest that a sizeable portion of vulnerabilities will be rediscovered, exacerbating the risks associated with non-disclosure.

International Models for Vulnerability Management

The U.S. has updated its Vulnerabilities Equities Process (VEP). The U.K. authorities and the Dutch government have established processes and considerations for the use of vulnerabilities. The EU can draw from these examples to foster a robust debate and establish a framework for vulnerability management.

EU policy makers should set transparent and responsible rules for handling zero-day vulnerabilities, with a presumption towards immediate disclosure to manufacturers.

A Call to Harmonise Rules and Act Swiftly

The EU should take bold steps to ensure obsolete devices are retired from critical infrastructure operators’ networks and to ensure governments have clear rules for handling and disclosing vulnerabilities, which are vital pieces of cybersecurity strategies. Policymakers and operators must work together to secure the digital infrastructure upon which virtually all sectors of the economy now depend.

So, will the new European Commission and Parliament rise to the occasion and set a new global standard for cybersecurity resilience?

"}]]  This blog delves into two crucial issues for EU policymakers to enhance Europe's cyber resilience: unsupported connected devices within critical infrastructure networks and the handling of discovered vulnerabilities by government agencies.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Celebrate Juneteenth with Cisco's commitment to diversity and inclusion, fostering a culture of equity and respect, and empowering communities for a future where every dream can become a reality.

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On June 19th, we commemorate Juneteenth, a day that holds immense significance in American history and in the ongoing struggle for racial equality and justice. As we mark this occasion, I want to take a moment to reflect on its meaning, to celebrate the progress we’ve made, and to renew our commitment to building a more just and equitable world.

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, commemorates the day in 1865 when the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned that they were free, a full two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. This date represents a turning point in our nation’s history—a moment when the promise of freedom enshrined in our Constitution finally began to be realized for all Americans, regardless of the color of their skin.

But as we celebrate this momentous occasion, we must also acknowledge the painful truth that the struggle for true equality and justice did not end on that day in June 1865. For far too long, systemic racism, discrimination, and inequality have persisted in our society, denying far too many the full measure of freedom, opportunity, and dignity they deserve.

At Cisco, we believe we have a responsibility to confront these injustices head-on, to use our platform and our resources to drive meaningful change, and to create a culture where every individual feels valued, respected, and empowered to thrive. This commitment is not only a moral imperative but also a business necessity. We know that diversity, inclusion, and collaboration are essential to our success, and that when we create an environment where everyone can bring their full selves to work, we unlock the full potential of our people and our organization.

That’s why we’ve made diversity and inclusion a core part of our company’s purpose and strategy. Through our Conscious Culture initiative, we’re fostering an environment of dignity, respect, fairness, and equity, where everyone can contribute their unique perspectives and experiences. And with our Social Justice actions, we’re taking concrete steps to address systemic racism and drive lasting change, from increasing representation and advancement of Black employees to investing in the economic empowerment of Black communities.

Last week, we were proud to host the 2nd annual Cisco Radiate event, a platform for our Black employees and allies to come together, share their experiences, and empower each other to shine. With the theme “You Are Meant to Shine,” we recognized that every individual has unique talents, perspectives, and experiences that contribute to our collective success. Over 600 people attended the event over three days, radiating and illuminating the path for others, because when we shine together, we light up the world.

Cisco is also the official sponsor of the Atlanta Juneteenth Parade & Festival at Piedmont Park from June 21-23. This vibrant celebration is a testament to the resilience, creativity, and spirit of the African American community. I invite you to join us and our #CiscoAACPC partners for a weekend of unity, joy, and reflection. Walk alongside us in the parade and stop by the Cisco booth to connect with our team and learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

But we also know that this work is not the responsibility of any one company or individual. It requires all of us—leaders, employees, partners, and communities—to come together in a spirit of empathy, understanding, and shared commitment. It requires us to have difficult conversations, to challenge our assumptions and biases, and to take action in ways large and small to create a world where every person has an equal chance to succeed and thrive.

As we celebrate Juneteenth, let’s draw strength and inspiration from the courage and resilience of those who have come before us, from the countless individuals who have fought and sacrificed to bend the arc of history towards justice. Let us honor their legacy by rededicating ourselves to the unfinished work of equality and by reaffirming our commitment to creating a future where every person, in every community, has the opportunity to reach their full potential.

At Cisco, we’re proud to be part of this ongoing journey, and we’re deeply grateful to our employees, our partners, and our communities for joining us in this work. Together, let’s continue to strive for a world where the promise of freedom and equality is truly realized for all.

Happy Juneteenth!

Join us in building a future where every voice is heard, every story is
celebrated, and every dream has the chance to become a reality!

We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with #CiscoPartners on social!

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The Cisco Cyber Threat Trends report examines malicious domains for trends and patterns. See what the data tells us about the threat landscape.

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The threat landscape is full of moving targets. Over time, popular tools, tactics, and procedures change. Malicious techniques fall out of fashion, only to come roaring back months, if not years, later. All the while, security practitioners monitor network traffic and adapt their defenses to protect their users and networks. Keeping on top of these trends is one of the most challenging tasks for any security team.

One great area to look for trends is in malicious DNS activity. These days almost all malicious activity requires an internet connection to successfully carry out an attack. For example, an attacker uses a backdoor to connect to a remote system and send it instructions. Information stealers need a connection to malicious infrastructure to exfiltrate sensitive data. Ransomware groups need to be able to “flip the switch” remotely to encrypt the victim’s systems.

In our latest report, Cyber Threat Trends Report: From Trojan Takeovers to Ransomware Roulette, we take the extraordinary volume of malicious domains that Cisco sees and blocks—over 1 million every hour—and examine it for malicious trends and patterns. This data comes to us thanks to the DNS-layer security that is available in Cisco Umbrella and  Cisco Secure Access.

Let’s take a closer look at how we conducted this research, a couple trends highlighted in the report, and what you can do to better defend against these threats.

How the DNS data was analyzed for the report

To create a clear picture from such a large data set, we looked at the categories Umbrella applies to known malicious domains. These Threat Type categories are functional groupings of threats that use similar techniques in their attacks.

We examined an eight-month time frame (August 2023–March 2024) and figured out the monthly average volume for each Threat Type category. To examine the trends, we then calculated how much each month was above or below the average volume.  This gives us a simplified look at how threat activity changes over time.

This is where patterns began to emerge from large batches of malicious internet traffic, and the results are quite interesting. To illustrate, we’ll look at the three most active threat type categories found in this report.

Information Stealers

The threat category that saw the most activity during the time frame was information stealers. This comes as no surprise, as it is a category that includes exfiltrating large batches of documents and monitoring audio/video communications will generate a large amount of DNS traffic.

An interesting trend appears here— three months of above-average activity, followed by one month of below-average activity. We speculate that these drops in activity could be tied to attack groups processing the data they steal. When faced with a mountain of documents and recordings to sift through, sometimes it makes sense to take a break to catch up.

Trojans vs Ransomware

Next, let’s compare two seemingly disparate categories: Trojans and ransomware. Trojan activity was highest in the beginning of our time frame, then declined over time. This activity doesn’t indicate that the use of Trojans is falling out of favor but rather highlights the ebb-and-flow nature we often see in the threat landscape. When Trojan activity declines, we often see other threat types rise.

In contrast to Trojan activity, ransomware activity appears to be trending in the other direction. The first few months of the time frame saw below average activity, but then in January it jumped well above average and stayed that way.

Why might these two differing threat types be trending in opposite directions? In many cases threat actors will utilize Trojans to infiltrate and take over a network, and then once they’ve gained sufficient control, deploy ransomware.

These are just a couple examples of trends from the Cyber Threat Trends Report. In the report we cover several additional categories, including some that follow similar patterns to Trojans and ransomware.

How to protect and monitor your own network traffic

An internet connection is a primary component of modern-day threats. So why not block that internet connection to block threats? By monitoring and controlling DNS queries, security practitioners can often identify and block malicious traffic before it reaches end-users devices. Some high-level suggestions, covered in more detail in the report, include the following:

Leveraging DNS Security
Protecting Your Endpoints
Implementing a Security Defense Strategy

Cisco has a unique vantage point here. You can’t protect what you can’t see, and because we resolve an average of 715 billion daily DNS requests, we see more threats, more malware, and more attacks than just about any other security vendor.

With over 30,000 customers already choosing Cisco as their trusted partner in DNS-layer security, organizations can be confident that their users will be better protected through their ongoing hybrid work, cloud transformation, and distributed environments:

Cisco Umbrella is part of the Cisco Security Service Edge (SSE) product family, powering secure internet access for all Cisco SSE solutions. Umbrella uses DNS to stop threats over all ports and protocols to stop malware earlier and prevent callbacks to attackers if infected machines connect to our network.Tune in on June 26 to learn more at our Cisco Umbrella Live Demo: Streamline cloud security and embrace an SSE or SASE architecture
Cisco Secure Access is the newest addition to our Security Service Edge (SSE) product family, providing an extended set of security capabilities, including secure web gateway (SWG), cloud access security broker (CASB), zero trust network access (ZTNA), remote browser isolation (RBI), data loss prevention (DLP), cloud malware detection, and more.Register to attend one of our upcoming sessions for a Cisco Secure Access Live Demo: A smarter way to secure access to the internet, SaaS, and private apps.

Learn more

Download the full report for more key insights on the current threat landscape:Cyber Threat Trends Report: From Trojan Takeovers to Ransomware Roulette

Learn more about the findings from the new Cyber Threat Trends report where I’ll share further insights on this research, in our webinar on June 20th, 2024: The Web’s Most Wanted – A Cyber Threat Trend Briefing

We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with Cisco Security on social!

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"}]]  The Cisco Cyber Threat Trends report examines malicious domains for trends and patterns. See what the data tells us about the threat landscape.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

A new survey by Cisco and Enterprise Strategy Group reveals the true contours of cloud native application development and security

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A new survey by Cisco and Enterprise Strategy Group reveals the true contours of cloud native application development and security

The pressure to drive revenue, increase growth, and boost productivity is pushing organizations to embrace cloud native applications. In many organizations, security is an afterthought in the development process, which can lead to vulnerabilities and increased risk. This is especially true with the rapid adoption of cloud technologies, which can introduce new types of threats and obstacles. It’s a complex issue that often requires a cultural shift and the adoption of new tools and practices, which can be a challenge.

Cisco recently partnered with TechTarget’s Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) on a survey of IT, cybersecurity, and application development professionals, The State of Cloud Security Platforms and DevSecOps (April 2024), to better understand the scope of cloud native application development environments and how organizations are protecting cloud infrastructure and applications.

Let’s dig into the results.

Key Findings

Multicloud is the new norm, not the exception
Misconfigurations remain a monster problem that needs attention
Security needs to scale to support both cloud native application development and runtime protection

Multicloud – the new normal

One cloud. Two clouds. Three clouds, more! Organizations are increasingly moving their production applications and workloads to public clouds to leverage state-of-the-art cloud infrastructure. In fact, according to ESG, most organizations utilize more than three cloud service providers (CSPs). This trend is likely to continue as more organizations look to public, private, and hybrid clouds to meet their unique application requirements, support business preferences, or meet industry-specific needs.

Top issues with cloud applications

Misconfiguration is not a four-letter word. Yet, the top issues plaguing cloud applications or services in the last year stem from misconfigurations. From misconfigured security groups, to lack of multifactor authentication (MFA) for access to cloud management consoles, default, or no-password access to consoles, and externally facing sever workloads, misconfigurations are a menace for organizations. The failure to detect these mistakes results in exposures that could lead to unauthorized access, lost data, and malware infections.

Secure from the start

Organizations late to embrace DevSecOps, the process of incorporating security into the software development lifecycle, are paying the price. A whopping majority (79%) are employing DevOps practices, but the inclusion of critical security lags. ESG says only 26% of surveyed organizations secure more than half of their cloud native applications. This lack of security at the start has led to an uptick in security incidents, application downtime, unauthorized access to applications, and – not shockingly – data loss.

DevSecOps to the rescue

The good news is that organizations are planning to increase the adoption of DevSecOps over the next 24 months. Close to half of all organizations plan to deploy DevSecOps to mitigate security issues and runtime misconfigurations found in cloud applications. DevOps tools are incorporating security practices to apply controls for incident response, forensics, and threat hunting for identifying and remediating malware or vulnerabilities from deployment through to production.

Better tools for faster remediation

Organizations report experiencing business-impacting consequences tied to attacks that occurred between initial detection and remediation time. As a result, they are looking for better tools that speed remediation to mitigate data loss, application downtime, business disruption, or customer data loss. Keep in mind, organizations are looking for these compatibilities as part of a suite or platform, not as another disparate tool in their already complex, distributed environments. We’ll look a bit deeper into this.

Security efficiency supports scale

To drive business growth, organizations need to be cost-conscious and efficient. Almost 100% of organizations agree that consolidation of tools is a priority to gain better context for faster and efficient remediation and response. Security programs must evolve to secure both cloud native application, and use of, public infrastructure to keep pace with development speed. This all comes as a broader effort to reduce complexity and take a unified cybersecurity posture.

Investing in the future

Organizations overwhelmingly agree that purchase of cloud security platforms and DevSecOps over the next year is required, not optional. This investment extends across a wide variety of areas, including cloud workload protection platforms, application programming interface (API) security, application security testing tools, endpoint detection tools, posture management tools, and entitlement management solutions. Organizations selected a wide variety of features needed for a comprehensive cloud native application security program. These range from preventative controls to risk prioritization, ease and flexibility of deployment, and capabilities driving faster responses to threats and attacks.

Taking the next step

The time to leverage suites and platforms procured from a smaller set of vendors to reduce complexity and improve security posture is now. To learn more about the security solutions in place to protect cloud infrastructure and applications today, along with the top challenges organizations face to defend against attack, read the full eBook from TechTarget’s Enterprise Strategy Group.

We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with Cisco Security on social!

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User Protection challenges security buyers; they add vendors for new threats, increasing IT complexity. Cisco and partners aim to simplify with a holistic user protection strategy.

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Marketing Velocity Central (MVC) is Cisco’s data-driven demand generation platform created by marketers for marketers. Our partners use MVC to learn, build their brand, launch campaigns, track results and become world-class marketers.

For the past decade, MVC has provided our partner marketing professionals with curated campaigns for today’s biggest opportunities. This month’s spotlight campaign is on end user security with Cisco User Protection Suite.

The User Protection Challenge

One of the main challenges facing organizations today is identity-based attacks. Bad actors are using a wide range of techniques, from phishing and social engineering to supply chain attacks, business email compromise, and more. For many of these attacks, it would take a cybersecurity expert to spot the red flags. This has become a major problem for organizations. Talos, Cisco’s Threat Intelligence Group, found that 80% of breaches were caused by targeting users.

User Protection is a hot topic, and one many security buyers have been grappling with. Each time a new threat emerges, a new solution comes to the market to protect against that threat. In fact, large enterprises have, on average, 76 security products. This is leading to product complexity for security and IT teams and organizations are looking to simplify.

This is where Cisco, along with our partners, can provide a holistic approach to protecting users.

Cisco has investigated and researched this problem and when we asked security buyers what their top concern is, they said over and over that product complexity is the root of the challenge. So rather than continue the vendor-by-vendor approach, we asked if these same buyers would consider a suite to save time managing products, to make it easier to deploy products, and save money.

With the Cisco User Protection Suite, we offer a new approach to protecting users and only Cisco has the scale and network to inform our products to better protect our customers. With over 300,000 customers and over 550 billion security events per day, we see a lot. We are using this information to better protect our users so we know which malicious sites we should block, which IP addresses bad actors are using, or what behavioral indicators should trigger certain alerts.

Cisco User Protection Suite

The Cisco User Protection Suite provides a simplified, integrated user experience. User protection provides better efficacy through an integrated roadmap, comprehensive protection, and incorporates AI to transform management and secure outcomes.

Products work together and provide customers with:

Better experiences: enables your customers to be productive at their job with secure, seamless access to all resources
Better economics: Work with one vendor to provide the breadth of solutions to protect your users – that means one contact, one contract, and one renewal.
Better efficacy: improve your customers’ security posture, lower their risks, and keep their sensitive information safe.

Cisco User Protection Suite provides our partners with:

Consolidating cybersecurity solutions under one vendor to simplify subscription management for partners
Expanding the opportunity into an Enterprise Agreement (EA), making it much more difficult for competitive security providers to displace incumbency
Collaborating with our customers as a trusted advisor and support customers on their user protection journey
Improving efficiency and saving customers money, while providing a valuable business outcome

Drive demand and pipeline with Marketing Velocity Central

Did you know that partners who use Marketing Velocity Central (MVC) generate 4 times more pipeline than those who do not? As a benefit for being a Cisco registered partner, you can generate more pipeline and bookings by activating the User Protection campaign on Marketing Velocity Central.

MVC accelerates your time to market with ready-to-use content, customizable campaigns including email and social copy, images, logos, and shareable content to drive customer engagement.

To optimize your marketing campaigns, MVC also provides services such as:

Co-branding: show your credibility by downloading and using your Cisco partnership logo through logo builder
Customization: set yourself apart by picking a ready-to-go campaign, edit it and choose from the many images in our library
Account-Based Targeting: upload and manage your list of contacts in one single place while tracking campaign engagement via a lead-scoring method
Full-Service Activities: hire a third-party marketing agency to help you obtain even better results and use your Cisco marketing funds, or your own funds

Get started now

Learn more about the Cisco User Protection Suite by watching the overview video on Marketing Velocity Learning

Visit MVC to begin building your User Protection campaign using our step-by-step guide.

Additional resources:

Frustrate Attackers, Not Users At-A-Glance

Cisco User Protection Suite

Blog – Social Engineering 201: How the User Protection Suite Safeguards Organizations

We’d love to hear what you think. Ask a Question, Comment Below, and Stay Connected with #CiscoPartners on social!

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See the growth Global Financial Operations Leader Brielle has experienced since coming out at work last year and how she's inspiring inclusivity at Cisco and beyond.

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Pride Month is a huge celebration and meaningful event for the PRIDE community globally. Our flags are waving, clack fans are clapping, and our community is putting on spectacular events to welcome and embrace our resilient and diverse LGBTQ+ community. It’s a time of year when we may feel safer expressing ourselves. Safety is something all humans need.

June is also a time of year to reflect on how far we, the PRIDE community, have come and what we still must overcome — even in 2024.

Having been at Cisco for the past ten years, I have witnessed the communications and protections provided by this company in support of our LGBTQ+ community. I value working for a company that puts my well-being at the forefront of their words and actions. It plays a crucial role for me to feel safe and bring my 100% authentic self to work. I think back to proactive stances Cisco took on legislation and the advocates within our company, like Oscar Canon, who went to bat for our healthcare options to be more inclusive for LGBTQ+ families. Most recently, it was heart-warming to see Cisco’s leadership, once again, wear Pride pins at Cisco Live!

All that I have witnessed at Cisco since 2014 empowered me to finally “officially” come out at work last June through a WeAreCisco blog post titled “The Journey of Bringing my Authentic Self to Work.” However, the results were two-fold. Most of the response was positive and enriching, grew my network, and made me understand that I did take the right step in putting myself out there for myself and our community. On the other hand, there were internet trolls, hiding behind the safety of their anonymity, who said hateful things to me they would never say to my face. Well, guess what? Cisco and my allies blocked that content and continued to share my story.

That WeAreCisco blog post grew my connections both personally and professionally. Personally, I gained a new golf partner, Kim Bailey, from the CX organization! She and her wife are improving my golf game, and getting to play at a beautifully designed university golf course on their membership doesn’t hurt either. Professionally, I have been blessed to feel the support of my wonderful friends at Cisco, who saw my work ethic and encouraged me to apply for the RTP PRIDE Inclusive Community Development Pillar Lead role at the start of Fiscal Year 2024. That role surged ten-fold when I had the opportunity to take over as RTP PRIDE Chapter Lead. This was a hefty task to take on, but with the support of my brilliant fellow Chapter Lead, Enrique Perez, we have established opportunities to grow and engage our RTP PRIDE audience even more. This could not have been possible without the efforts and organizational skills of our past Chapter Lead, who we sincerely miss at Cisco.

Ultimately, change, acceptance, and support are possible at Cisco. We have made a lot of progress, especially in the ten years I have been here, but we still have a long road ahead of us. I am honored to be part of a company whose employees and leaders stand up for me, mentor me, and know that my LGBTQ+ identity is part of who I am and what helps me perform to the best of my abilities. If you’re a Cisconian and want to become an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, we welcome you to join our local Inclusive Community PRIDE Chapters via Workday. Please know that a small pride flag or inclusive pride logo in the back of your video on Webex goes a long way, too! It shows you are a safe space for us. Also, know that Cisco’s PRIDE community doesn’t just activate around June. We hold events for Transgender Day of Remembrance, National Coming Out Day, World Suicide Prevention Day, Harvey Milk Day, and partner with other Inclusive Communities such as the Adult Caregiver’s Network, Connected Asian Affinity Network (CAAN), Conexión, Indians Connecting Network (ICON), VETs, and many others to produce meaningful events in our Cisco community. This intersectionality brings unique perspectives to Cisco and our daily lives.

In the end, inclusivity is more important now than ever. We can start by using our pronouns in our profiles, when starting an event, or meeting new individuals. Also, we can incorporate a visual description of ourselves when presenting at larger meetings to help blind and visually impaired people understand visual information. Let me give you an example, “Hi, my name is Brielle Mayle, my pronouns are she/her. I am a Caucasian woman, wearing glasses, a white collared shirt, with a bookshelf behind me.” It takes only seconds and can start to become a norm in our workplace and world, making others feel safe and included.

We’re intentionally creating an environment where all employees can innovate and thrive. See the power of Our Purpose.

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The addition of service-centric assurance brings a deeper, more precise, and real-time view of network and service performance for service providers and enterprises that run complex critical… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Growing the business while simplifying network operations and maintaining service levels are top challenges for customers running critical and complex enterprise and service provider networks.

Consistent availability is one issue that makes this a challenge, because your customers are sensitive to performance fluctuations and any impacts to digital experience for end users. While avoiding outages remains key, network delays and latency are productivity killers in their own right. You could say: “slow is the new down.”

Many organizations are turning to higher degrees of automation to manage complexity and increasing costs. That’s good, but contextual insight of your owned network from service-centric assurance is critical if you want to move toward autonomous, zero-trouble networks.

Managing the requirements of high quality of service (QoS) requires real-time and accurate visibility across every connected element that impacts user experience, including:

An understanding of the real-time end-to-end service performance and service-level agreements (SLAs)
Ability to detect the hidden and transient issues that impact service performance and then take correct actions—including automated remediation—to continuously optimize quality of experience
Proactive, rather than reactive, operations, leveraging AI-native predictive analytics to prevent issues from happening before end users might be impacted

At Cisco Live, we introduced Digital Experience Assurance (DXA) for Cisco Networking Cloud, powered by Cisco ThousandEyes. This is a significant expansion of our strategy and capabilities, shifting network operations from monitoring to proactive, automated actions, with AI-native innovations that ensure assurance across both owned and unowned network domains.

Today, I’m thrilled to also unveil Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance (formerly Accedian Skylight, acquired by Cisco in September 2023). This solution gives organizations microsecond-level visibility and service-centric insight essential for critical enterprise connectivity and managing large-scale, complex provider networks—the “owned” aspect of the global area network. This real-time visibility enables simplified operations and seamless digital experiences across carrier-grade environments.

This insight also enables our customers to boost revenue from advanced, high-QoS network services, while delivering competitive SLAs and exceptional digital experiences.

The value of a new breed of service-centric assurance

Global digital infrastructure company, Colt Technology Services, sees the value in offering performance control and visibility on their global networks to end customers. The company provides B2B customers with real-time usage and performance insight through end-customer portals, which became a differentiator during competitive request for proposal (RFP) processes. Colt credits the portals for a 30% upsell opportunity for capacity and services to existing customers. The customer-centric digital experience of the portal created a stickiness for Colt that also reduced churn by an estimated 25%.[1]

Internal operations teams at Colt that manage the transport network used the Provider Connectivity Assurance platform to cut operational expense (OpEx) by 50%, plus they were able to analyze trouble tickets approximately 35% faster. The integration of Provider Connectivity Assurance with Cisco Crosswork Network Services Orchestrator further reduced OpEx for mitigation by 25% thanks to automated closed-loop mitigation processes.

As Dr. Mark Mortensen, ACG Research, wrote in Economic Benefits of Service-Centric Assurance: “The advanced capabilities of a new breed of service-centric service assurance systems, best exemplified by Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance (formerly Accedian Skylight), are filling in the holes that have hampered the movement of CSPs’ and large enterprises’ networks toward zero-trouble operations.”[2]

Almost every industry is currently undergoing digital transformation. Reliable, secure connectivity is key to digital resilience in terms of productivity, efficiency, and services that hit the experience mark. Every digital experience depends on a combination of owned and unowned infrastructures, and deep visibility across every part of these multidomain environments is critical, and now possible.

The combination of Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance, Cisco Networking Cloud, and Digital Experience Assurance can help simplify how you manage your diverse infrastructure, and how you assure seamless digital experiences across it. Even better, it supports your efforts to offer more differentiated services, which means new revenue opportunities.

Visit the Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance web page

[1] Mark Mortensen, ACG Research, Economic Benefits of Service-Centric Assurance

[2] Mark Mortensen, ACG Research, Economic Benefits of Service-Centric Assurance

"}]]  The addition of service-centric assurance brings a deeper, more precise, and real-time view of network and service performance for service providers and enterprises that run complex critical… Read more on Cisco Blogs  Read More Cisco Blogs