Security Articles

The cost of a data breach rose from $3.86 million to $4.24 million in 2021, the highest average total cost in 17 years. Worldwide, it is estimated that cybercrimes will cost $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. As Organizations continue to build their defenses against cybercrime,  protecting in-flight data should be a cornerstone of any holistic security strategy.

As in-flight data is increasingly being carried over longer distances with bigger bandwidths, in-transit, high-capacity, security strategies should be employed that are congruent with the security strategies used for data at “rest.”

Digital Data Encryption is a traditional method of protecting in-flight data. Only people with access to the decryption key or password can read the data. However, Data Encryption has drawbacks since it slows down network performance with increased latency and inefficient bandwidth use. It also requires application-specific hardware and difficult encryption key management, which increases the complexity of network management.

Optical Data Encryption provides always-on, dedicated, secure data encryption at the network transport layer with ease of implementation and management. Optical Encryption also succeeds without added latency, inefficient bandwidth usage, or the need for costly, encryption-specific hardware.

Optical Encryption secures in-flight data in the network transport layer from endpoint to endpoint as it is carried over optical wavelengths across fiber-optic cables. As data leaves your site, it is encrypted optically at the network layer for maximum throughput and low latency without impacting performance. Gateway routers then send traffic directly to the transport device for bulk encryption. This is accomplished without requiring expensive encryption gateways or additional encryption hardware since the solution integrates directly into the network element. Additionally, as a protocol-agnostic encryption solution, it supports a wide range of services and infrastructures, from metro to long-haul. Ongoing management can be simplified with management tools that provide encrypted service security parameters and key management.

Lightpath’s Optical Encryption solution provides all these features to protect your in-flight data. It is a cost-effective, simple-to-implement, and protocol-agnostic encryption solution that supports all infrastructures, from metro to long-haul, with continuous 24/7 protection, whether data is traveling across the street, across town, or across borders.

Lightpath’s Optical Encryption provides the highest level of in-flight data security with strong security certification for compliance to data protection legislation and adherence to the strictest industry security standards, certifications, and regulations such as those governing HIPAA, the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or any other data regulations.

• Industry-leading encryption over the entire Optical Transport Network (OTN) Layer 1 secures all messaging, headers, and data
• Fast and hitless key rotation interval of seconds instead of minutes
• Elliptic Curve Cryptography algorithms, and independent sets of keys
• Certified Advanced Encryption Standards (AES-256) encryption engine
• Intrusion detection

Lightpath Optical Encryption is also easy to implement and use. The Ciena MyCryptoTool enables secure, full end-user control of encrypted service security parameters without needing to install software.

• Simplified key management fully controlled by the end user
• Separate set of keys for authentication & encryption
• Leverages any web browser to connect to the cryptographic module of the card
• Secure management. Deploys TLS https connectivity authenticated with security certificates

Optical Encryption of your in-flight data is necessary for a holistic security strategy. To learn how Lightpath can help your organization, call 877-544-4872 or visit lightpathfiber.com