Authored by Steve Nowell, Cisco Buyer Supply Safety Architect

Securing the NFL’s premier occasions just like the Tremendous Bowl LVII in February and extra not too long ago their Draft, brings various distinctive cybersecurity challenges. The Tremendous Bowl is likely one of the most-watched sporting occasions on the planet, with 115 million viewers this yr. The Draft can also be large, with greater than 300,000 folks attending in Kansas Metropolis in April. Cisco is each an Official Cybersecurity Associate of the NFL and a sponsor. Given the gravity of those premier NFL occasions, our relationship, and the enticing goal they signify to menace actors, Cisco has no margin for error – none. This community merely should be safe and out there, particularly contemplating the belief the NFL has chosen to place into our folks and safety merchandise. It’s Cisco’s accountability to make the NFL safe. And we’ve…

Cisco Buyer Expertise (CX) led the way in which for the second yr in a row, planning, designing, implementing, and working our safety resolution on behalf of the NFL. From an operational standpoint, Cisco is the eyes of the NFL, working intently with them as their safety analysts and threat-hunters. Two and a half years because the engagement started and with 4 occasions behind us, CX has grow to be an extension of the NFL’s workforce. With direct interface to NFL cybersecurity management, the 32 golf equipment, and different NFL companions, we’re not a bit participant in holding these occasions safe; Cisco CX is a trusted associate. “Cisco CX’s depth and breadth of expertise in understanding the size of and securing the environment from threats ensured that we had been well-prepared forward of Tremendous Bowl LVII,” stated Tomás Maldonado, NFL Chief Info Safety Officer. That stated, it isn’t solely CX however all of Cisco, together with Safe enterprise unit and Talos Menace Intelligence, coming collectively as one unified expertise.

Whereas our safety design varies from event-to-event, the Cisco Safe merchandise used to assist them have been fixed. On the basis is our Cisco Safe Firewall deployed in a number of venues (we’re answerable for securing the NFL at extra than simply the occasion), Cisco Safe Firepower Administration Middle, Cisco Umbrella DNS Safety, and Cisco Malware Analytics. The latest inclusion at this yr’s Draft was our not too long ago introduced Prolonged Detection and Response (XDR) resolution, a key menace investigation platform sitting on prime of the safety stack. It performs a vital function, being the glue binding collectively the safety telemetry from all of our safety merchandise, designed to speed up menace detection and response. The tight integration between all of those Cisco merchandise proves the adage of the entire resolution being better than the sum of its components – it’s actually the case.

An fascinating story from the Draft is the place we deployed our resolution, in entrance of an NFL broadcast associate with their very own firewall, to make sure visitors coming out and in was completely inspected to dam threats earlier than inflicting hurt. In consequence, we had been capable of catch safety threats missed by the published associate’s firewall due to our Safe Firewall, powered by Talos Menace Intelligence. Merely put, we blocked threats they didn’t.

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