This post was originally published on Data Center Knowledge
You know threat actors are trying to plant ransomware on your servers. But could they also be targeting your data center networking equipment? The answer is a likely ‘yes’.
Although data center networking hardware, like switches, tends to receive less attention than servers during discussions of cybersecurity, the reality is that network equipment can pose just as much of a risk as the rest of your IT infrastructure in exposing workloads to attack.
Here’s why network equipment could be the weakest link in data center security – and what you can do to protect it.
Data Center Cybersecurity Risks in Network Devices
In a data center, network devices are switches, routers, and other devices that manage network traffic. They are often physical devices, but they can also be software-defined networking solutions that run on conventional servers.
Like most other types of IT resources, data center networking hardware can be subject to a variety of cybersecurity risks, including:
Software vulnerabilities in the firmware installed on network devices
Software vulnerabilities in the operating systems that power network devices.
Software vulnerabilities in software-defined networking systems.
Software vulnerabilities in remote
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