Dell Technologies Edge Security Essentials: NativeEdge

Edge Locations.

Edge systems are often deployed by organizations where security is difficult or impossible to ensure, such as on factory floors or on top of communication towers where it would be too dangerous or expensive to station security guards and where controlling physical access is challenging.

Physical Access.

Physical access to the assets is one of the major threats at the edge. Defense mechanisms like video surveillance, tamper seals, or even in-person security guards are often not an option for cost and practical reasons. Locking devices in a cabinet is a form of protection, but since these are unmanned in many locations, it gives malicious actors all the time they need to plan and execute a breach. A keylock gives extremely limited protection as the theft of the whole cabinet in many cases is the biggest worry in these scenarios.

Scale.

Many companies in their cloud and edge journey start with PoCs where they initially have one to 10 units to proof the solution. Once the solution is installed, SSH is the primary way of accessing these remote devices at the edge. Once that PoC is brought to mass production, SSH does not scale and a management plane is required to do this at massive scale.

Loosely Connected Sites.

Often these edge locations are fully disconnected and occasionally check in, for example over a 4G connection, to send their information to higher-layered information systems or the cloud. This complicates security measures and could lead to incidents being reported late.

Skilled Staff.

Lack of skilled staff at the edge or having staff at these locations is challenging. Some sites are so remote that sending a skilled person to the location can be extremely expensive.

Edge Breaches.

Edge requires a different approach than traditional datacenter best practices as breaches have a direct effect on:

• • People’s quality of life: Edge infrastructure drives critical infrastructure, for example, digital cities, power grids, factories, hospitals, ships, buildings, and airports.

• • Business continuity: Edge infrastructure drives critical applications that run, for example, cash registers, advanced optical inspection (AOI), operator equipment efficiency (OEE), energy efficiency, telco base station monitoring, and patient care.

What Can You do to Keep Your Edge Safe?

By implementing robust identity-proofing mechanisms, NativeEdge ensures that individuals accessing the platform are who they claim to be. This process establishes trust, reduces the risk of unauthorized access, and protects the integrity and confidentiality of data within the platform. It forms a fundamental part of the overall zero-trust architecture, safeguarding the users, devices, network applications, and data.