Optimization – Cisco Cloud Security

Optimization

With hundreds of apps in use and new ones being adopted on a regular basis, organizations need an automated way to view key vendor and app details and compare risk elements and compliance certifications. It’s also important to be able to view which identities are using which applications to enable monitoring and to help with policy formation or incident investigations. This information is provided in the app detail pages, which can be accessed from the dashboard or any of the aforementioned App Grid reports. All of this insight will help you to make informed decisions about the cloud apps you want to approve in your environment.

Utilize the 30 application categories to organize the apps in use and filter by risk level or number of requests to understand your current exposure. Then make informed decisions about categories and assign the individual apps to the Approved, Under Audit, or Not Approved group. Figure 8-19 shows an example of a Cisco Umbrella categorized application-level report.


Figure 8-19 Cisco Umbrella categorized application-level report

Figure 8-20 shows apps by category and risk.


Figure 8-20 Apps by category and risk

Application Blocking

Once the organization has visibility into the full spectrum of apps in use and details on the usage and risk levels, it is natural to want to block either entire categories or specific applications that don’t match the cloud adoption or security strategy. The blocking capabilities in Umbrella allow you to select a category or individual application and block it for all users, specific groups, individuals, or networks.

You can easily block the available apps by clicking the link in the application listing or detail pages as well as enforce this control for any network, group, or individual user accessible by Umbrella policies. Figure 8-21 illustrates the configuration steps to control an application.


Figure 8-21 Configuration steps to control an application

Enabling Healthy and Efficient Cloud Adoption

Users are aggressively adopting cloud applications to improve collaboration and productivity. This activity should be enabled and encouraged due to the many benefits, but you need the ability to monitor cloud app usage on an ongoing basis and compare vendors and apps to provide guidance and control. Armed with a list of sanctioned and unsanctioned apps, you can intelligently manage the volume of cloud apps in use and help enable end users trying to make decisions about new apps. Figure 8-22 shows the Cisco Cloudlock Composite Risk Score.


Figure 8-22 Cisco Cloudlock Composite Risk Score

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