Exclusive Networks Africa, a cybersecurity specialist, has announced a new partnership with Akamai Technologies, a cloud company that powers and protects life online, to expand its presence across Africa.
Stefan van de Giessen, Security & GSI Lead Africa at Exclusive Networks Africa, stated, “After six months of collaboration on this deal, Akamai decided to broaden our partnership. They aim to leverage Exclusive Networks Africa’s extensive partner base across East, West, and South Africa, as well as the Indian Ocean Islands and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Our joint focus will be on delivering the benefits of micro-segmentation to local enterprises, governments, and telco organizations.”
Software-based micro-segmentation is gaining popularity as a security best practice, offering advantages over traditional methods like network or application segmentation. It separates security controls from infrastructure, allowing businesses to extend protection and visibility anywhere. The ability to apply security policies at a more granular level helps prevent lateral movement and limit the impact of breaches.
The added granularity of micro segmentation is crucial as organizations adopt cloud services and new deployment options like containers, making traditional perimeter security less relevant.
Van de Giessen emphasized that implementing a software-based micro segmentation solution can achieve a faster, more seamless rollout with lower capital expenditure (Capex) compared to purchasing firewall appliances and additional hardware.
“Micro segmentation reduces lengthy implementation timelines—from over a year to weeks—and avoids related downtime, which can be costly. Reduced maintenance and management effort results in lower operating expenses over time, saving on labor and resources.”
“Micro segmentation is becoming an essential tool for IT teams to ensure that security policies and compliance keep pace with the rapid changes in today’s dynamic data center, cloud, and hybrid cloud environments,” Van de Giessen concluded.
This approach allows companies to ringfence their applications and servers, defining which ones can communicate with each other. This is critical during a ransomware attack, as the malware cannot spread to other machines within the network due to these authorization parameters. Locking down a device individually offers greater control over the blast radius of an attack, which would not be possible with a firewall. Maintaining strict access controls on each device helps prevent the spread of malware and limits the extent of damage that can be caused during a ransomware attack.
Hans Nipshagen, Regional Vice President of Channels and Alliances EMEA at Akamai, expressed excitement about the partnership: “We are thrilled to team up with Exclusive Networks and their strong ecosystem of local partners to deliver our micro segmentation services, enhancing cybersecurity for customers across African markets.”The post Micro segmentation: Enhancing Security for African Businesses first appeared on IT News Africa | Business Technology, Telecoms and Startup News.