Cloud computing has enabled global connectivity, where data flows across devices, networks and geographies through complex, distributed infrastructure.
Previously, there were clear security boundaries between a company’s network and external networks. Now the boundaries have blurred, and traditional security measures aren’t enough to adequately protect data, applications, and other resources.
Assuring smooth, secure digital experiences in this new era requires four core elements: a zero trust model, visibility into network traffic end-to-end, a symbiotic relationship between security and performance, and adaptive monitoring capabilities to address the unique challenges raised by distributed AI services and dynamic infrastructure.
From Trust to Zero Trust
When the Internet was first conceived and designed, it was built on trust; on the assumption that everyone was acting in good faith. Protocols such as Domain Name System (DNS) were created in an era when security threats were minimal and safeguards weren’t baked in, opening the door later on for threats like DNS spoofing. The Internet’s core protocols were never designed to verify or secure traffic and data.
Now, because networks have become globally distributed, we’ve moved away from assumed trust to zero trust. The zero trust security model operates on the principle of "never trust, always verify," meaning no user or device is granted implicit trust, regardless of whether they are inside or outside the network perimeter. Instead, every access request is continuously authenticated, authorized, and validated based on multiple factors like identity, device health, and behavior—only giving users access to the specific information they actually need to complete a task. Examples include requiring multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all logins, even for internal employees accessing internal applications like Microsoft 365 or Salesforce, and microsegmentation, creating isolated network zones with granular access controls between different systems, users, and applications to restrict lateral movement within a network.
It’s no longer sufficient to secure the perimeter or applications alone; verification must extend to transport protocols, the entire networking stack, and the communication path end to end.
Even secure applications can be made vulnerable by traffic unexpectedly ending up somewhere you didn’t intend, due to a misconfiguration or man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks such as BGP hijacking, DNS spoofing, or TLS interception. In one recent example, traffic to a root server was rerouted through an unauthorized network during a BGP hijack.
Even with current encryption standards, traffic that ends up in the wrong place is at risk of capture and analysis—a risk that will only increase as computing capabilities advance. That's why visibility is such an important partner to security, so you can check that your traffic is flowing properly and proactively address any issues.
Visibility Is Key
With increasingly complex and dynamic networks, visibility across the entire service delivery chain—the ability to validate network paths, measure performance, and test reachability across distributed services—is crucial to help ensure effective security, address performance issues, and assure great digital experiences.
Without end-to-end visibility, network admins may know the traffic goes in here and comes out there, but they might have to make assumptions about what happens in the middle because, as we’ve previously discussed, all sorts of things can take place on that route. Just because traffic leaves a device and arrives at its destination doesn’t mean it hasn’t been intercepted, rerouted, or interfered with on the way. Plotting the precise route–not only the endpoints–is important to maintain control.
Traditional networking monitoring solutions lack that comprehensive end-to-end visibility and react only after a network exploit has taken place. The reactive approach won’t cut it anymore. Network admins must be able to see threats before a problem happens, not after it occurs. You’ve got to be able to effectively emulate the data journey to understand how data moves from A to B. Then you can see which path is taken and if there's a deviation from that path, before you send down sensitive data.
In-depth, end-to-end traffic analysis can also help identify the real purpose of an attack. Let’s take distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks as an example. The aim of these attacks is sometimes not just to disrupt a service but also to steal sensitive data such as login credentials, payment information, or private documents while security teams are preoccupied with mitigating the DDoS attack. The DDoS is merely a decoy, a distraction from the real purpose of the attack. Monitoring the traffic flow during a DDoS attack can help a NetOps team identify what’s actually going on by observing unusual data flows, unexpected destination patterns, or traffic volumes inconsistent with typical DDoS behavior.
By monitoring end-to-end connectivity, NetOps and security teams can better understand the attack’s impact, where the attack vectors are coming from, and potentially where the bad actors are lurking.
Security and Performance: A Symbiotic Relationship
Businesses must manage the potential tension between providing effective security and maintaining performance. For example, if your VPN slows down users’ connection too much, they may try to avoid using it, which can compromise security.
However, if done right, security should not inhibit performance. Instead, it can actually enhance it. A securely managed network with proactive path monitoring and traffic flow analysis can help prevent unnecessary detours, malicious rerouting, or degraded services. Identifying when your traffic deviates from optimal, trusted paths enables you to take corrective action and, ultimately, improve user experience.
Adaptive Monitoring Across Dynamic Boundaries
In an era of distributed AI services and dynamic infrastructure, new monitoring and governance challenges have emerged.
Services can be deployed dynamically across multiple geographies and cloud providers. Regulatory boundaries, data sovereignty requirements, and access permissions vary significantly by region, and teams may not have complete visibility into where these boundaries lie or how they change.
As a result, organizations need adaptive monitoring capabilities to maintain security and compliance. Teams must be able to quickly validate critical questions: Are we accessing authorized tools and data sources? Are we operating within approved geographical boundaries? Have we exceeded usage quotas or violated data residency requirements? Are authentication tokens and permissions valid across different regions?
Effective governance requires continuous monitoring that can track these dynamic relationships. As AI agents and applications access resources across different jurisdictions, monitoring systems must adapt to validate compliance with varying regional requirements, data sovereignty laws, and organizational policies.
This approach enables organizations to maintain oversight as services span multiple control planes and regulatory environments. By continuously tracking resource access patterns and boundary crossings, teams can ensure that distributed operations remain compliant with both technical security requirements and regulatory constraints, even as the infrastructure landscape evolves.
Delivering Smooth, Secure Digital Experiences
Assuring digital experiences across secure networks is a strategic imperative today. It requires breaking down the silos of security and performance and making sure the two are connected in a symbiotic relationship that enhances both.
A network architecture grounded in zero trust, service delivery chain visibility, and adaptive governance enables organizations to confidently deliver secure, reliable digital experiences.