As organizations get ready to roll out AI to change their business processes and implement new ones, their networks are under greater pressure than ever before. At the same time, the frequency, scale, and sophistication of cyberattacks continue to rise, meaning network resilience remains critical. Here’s how secure, resilient networks are defining the future, and what organizations can do to stay ahead.
1. The Threat Landscape Is Evolving, Faster Than Ever
Global networks have been under siege for years, but recent attacks are more sophisticated and move at unprecedented speed. Many organizations are still relying on outdated infrastructure, with Cisco research revealing that 48% of network assets worldwide are aging or obsolete. This creates vulnerabilities that attackers eagerly exploit. It’s no longer enough to patch and maintain; a fundamental shift in strategy is required.
The business impact is significant: According to our research, just one severe network outage per business per year results in an aggregated $160 billion in losses globally driven by congestion, cyberattacks, and software misconfigurations.
This mounting risk is prompting organizations to rethink and evolve their network architectures for greater resilience. And Cisco is accelerating efforts to refresh outdated customer infrastructure and share best practices for securing existing environments through the Resilient Infrastructure initiative. This initiative aims to shrink the attack surface, strengthen default protections, eliminate outdated features, and deliver advanced security tools that help protect data and enable faster threat detection.
2. Complexity Has Become a Hidden Vulnerability
Modern networks typically span solutions and services from a range of different vendors, creating layers of complexity that can quickly overwhelm even experienced IT teams. This complexity often translates into vulnerability, especially when secure configurations aren’t consistently implemented or maintained. For many, simplicity and automation are now mission critical.
Businesses increasingly need networks where secure configurations, protocols, and features are enabled by default and adapt automatically. There is also a growing demand for AI-assisted systems that support troubleshooting and proactively alert administrators to insecure practices, helping to phase out legacy methods that no longer meet today’s security standards. Cisco’s focus on agent-based AI operations for networks builds on established network automation practices, supporting companies as they evolve their network management and integrate with continuous development workflows.
3. Security by Default: Raising the Bar for Protection for Network Devices
Security for network devices should never be an afterthought. Historically, network infrastructure hasn’t been monitored as closely as other areas of IT, but today it serves as a critical control point for managing risk. Organizations now face the challenge of not only detecting threats quickly, but also responding before vulnerabilities can be exploited. There is an urgent need to reduce the attack surface, remove legacy insecure features, and introduce advanced capabilities for detection and response.
That’s why Cisco is doubling down on building security into the foundation of the networking portfolio. Recent enhancements enable teams to respond to threats in real time, often before a patch is available resulting in less downtime, greater resilience, and increased peace of mind.
4 Secure Networking: The Foundation for the AI Era
As the digital landscape evolves, businesses need infrastructure that not only keeps pace with innovation but also establishes a secure, future-ready foundation. With AI workloads expanding rapidly and quantum computing on the horizon, many are under increasing pressure to ensure their networks can protect sensitive data against emerging threats.
The next generation of security requires networks to seamlessly provide identity management, deep visibility, integrated detection and protection, and streamlined management, while also incorporating advanced technologies like post-quantum cryptography. Secure Networking, something only Cisco can truly deliver, is the architectural foundation that makes this vision possible. By bringing networking and security together, organizations gain the deep visibility, integrated protection, and reduced complexity needed to evolve their infrastructure for the AI era.
Taking Action for a Resilient Future
The future of security and trust depends on the decisions organizations make today. It is critical to assess existing infrastructure, identify gaps, and prioritize modernization to address both current threats and future challenges. Effective collaboration between IT, security, and network teams is essential for managing risk and staying ahead of evolving threats. This requires moving away from outdated technologies, embracing secure networking, standardizing and automating configurations, planning for the entire network lifecycle, and gradually integrating AI-powered capabilities.
Building a resilient and secure digital foundation is no longer optional, it’s a business imperative.
This article was submitted by Cisco.