Comcast Corp. is one of the largest telecommunications and media empires in existence today. The company’s standing has allowed it to have unique insights into many of the cybersecurity challenges that are prevalent today — and it’s extending that expertise to enterprise customers.

“How do you secure that network all the way down to the end users?” asked Glenn Katz (pictured), senior vice president and general manager of Comcast Business Enterprise Solutions. “So it’s that middle portion — that’s the biggest challenge, because that takes a lot of work and a lot of effort. And that’s where folks like Comcast can come in and help them out.”

Katz spoke with John Furrier, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during the Fortinet Cybersecurity Summit. They touched on the current cybersecurity landscape from Comcast’s perspective, especially with the popularity of edge and hybrid work structures. (* Disclosure below.)

Accounting for changing working styles

In today’s business landscape, much of an organization’s operations are decentralized. Data is stored in edge cloud environments and, with the advent of the COVID pandemic, remote work is increasingly being embraced. Organizations can just not rely on digital fortresses as much as they used to.

“You’ve got to get down to the zero-trust type of network architecture. And how do you put that together? And how does that work? Not just for remote workers that have to access the enterprise applications, but also for …  consumers or the business customers of these enterprises that have to do business from an old phone or in the store,” Katz stated.

Approaches like zero-trust, multi-factor authentication and virtual desktop infrastructures are some of those that Comcast Business Enterprise Solutions employs to keep customers’ workflows secure, consistent, and agile, according to Katz.

In the midst of the growing need to keep digital information protected, the role of and need for chief information officers has grown exponentially, according to Katz. Even beyond organizations pivoting to alternatives like cybersecurity-as-a-service, the industry skills gap has to be reduced by a considerable extent in order to match current needs, Katz concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Fortinet Security Summit. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Fortinet Security Summit. Neither Fortinet Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE