Network operations provider Forward Networks Inc. introduced a major revamp of its platform today, adding new capabilities that provide teams with a “single, actionable and contextual view” of their networks.

The company’s platform is also being integrated with security analytics and automation tools from Rapid7 Inc. to combine end-device vulnerability data with up-to-date connectivity analysis. As a result, Forward says, companies will be able to prioritize their security remediation efforts with mathematical accuracy.

Forward Networks sells a platform that provides enterprises with network visibility, policy verification and change modeling. It explained that although multiple tools can be used to evaluate device vulnerabilities, it can be difficult to know how to resolve those issues without understanding how a device is connected to the network.

As a result, security teams often just focus on keeping such devices up to date, no matter what the vulnerability they have detected is. Or else they might focus on the specific vulnerability without considering the device’s exposure to individual systems. In other words, security teams are often unsure of how to fix any device vulnerabilities they discover.

By integrating with Rapid7, Forward Networks believes it can illustrate the actual risk each device vulnerability poses to on-premises, multicloud and software-defined wide-area networks from a single screen. It does so by creating a network-based “digital twin” of each device, the company explained, which can then be used to accurately model current and possible network behaviors. Armed with this information, teams can better mitigate the vulnerabilities they discover, Forward Networks said.

“With this information just mouse clicks away, security teams can better assess the vulnerability of their network and prioritize remediation and prevention efforts by focusing on the exposures that present the greatest possible risk,” said Forward Networks co-founder and Chief Executive David Erickson.

The integration with Rapid7 is just one of several new capabilities being added to its network operations platform. A second new feature provides teams with greater flexibility to define security posture matrixes, the company said. So in addition to using firewall zones to determine areas with full or partial connectivity or full isolation, it’s now possible to use entities such as virtual routing and forwarding, on-premises and cloud subnets, and cloud security groups.

In addition, Forward Networks said it now supports L7 path search capabilities to construct intelligent queries that provide detailed information on their connectivity and security posture when using Layer 7 constructs such as URLs, app IDs, user groups and user IDs.

Image: Forward Networks