Modernizing Network Infrastructures With Zero Trust And SASE Architecture

In a recent episode of The Tech Talks Daily Podcast, Paul Savill, Global Practice Leader of Networking and Edge Compute at Kyndryl, discussed how organizations can modernize and manage complex network infrastructures in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape. Key topics included Zero Trust, SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) architecture, and Kyndryl’s shift toward a cloud-first, AI-driven security approach.

Listen to the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gzaQUGuy

You Should Know:

1. Zero Trust Security Model

Zero Trust operates on the principle of “never trust, always verify.” Unlike traditional perimeter-based security, Zero Trust requires continuous authentication and authorization for every access request.

Key Commands & Configurations:

Linux (Using `iptables` for Zero Trust Policies):

Drop all incoming traffic by default 
sudo iptables -P INPUT DROP 
Allow SSH only from a specific IP (micro-segmentation) 
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -s 192.168.1.100 -j ACCEPT

Windows (Using PowerShell for Zero Trust):

Enable Network Isolation (Private VLAN) 
Set-NetFirewallProfile -Profile Domain,Public,Private -Enabled True 
Block all inbound traffic except from approved subnets 
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "ZeroTrust-Rule" -Direction Inbound -RemoteAddress 10.0.0.0/24 -Action Allow

2. Implementing SASE Architecture

SASE combines network security (FWaaS, SWG, CASB, ZTNA) with WAN capabilities (SD-WAN) into a cloud-based service.

Steps to Simulate SASE:

Deploy a Cloud Firewall (e.g., OpenSnitch on Linux):

Install OpenSnitch (Application Firewall) 
git clone https://github.com/evilsocket/opensnitch.git 
cd opensnitch && sudo python3 setup.py install 
Run in interactive mode 
sudo opensnitch-ui

Configure SD-WAN (Using FRRouting):

Install FRR (Linux) 
sudo apt install frr 
Enable OSPF for dynamic routing 
sudo vtysh 
configure terminal 
router ospf 
network 192.168.1.0/24 area 0

3. AI-Driven Security Automation

Kyndryl emphasizes AI-driven threat detection. Try these tools:

Linux (Suricata IDS with Machine Learning):

Install Suricata 
sudo apt install suricata 
Update rules & enable ML-based detection 
sudo suricata-update enable-source et/open 
sudo suricata-update --no-merge

Windows (Azure Sentinel Query for Anomalies):

SecurityEvent 
| where EventID == 4625 
| summarize FailedAttempts = count() by Account 
| where FailedAttempts > 5

What Undercode Say:

Modernizing networks with Zero Trust and SASE is no longer optional. Enterprises must adopt adaptive security policies, cloud-native architectures, and AI-powered monitoring to combat evolving threats.

Pro Tip: Test your Zero Trust setup using Nmap:

nmap -sS -Pn -T4 192.168.1.1  Stealth scan (bypasses traditional firewalls)

Expected Output:

Starting Nmap 7.92 ( https://nmap.org ) 
Nmap scan report for 192.168.1.1 
Host is up (0.0023s latency). 
Not shown: 998 filtered ports 
PORT STATE SERVICE 
22/tcp open ssh 
443/tcp open https

Relevant URL: Kyndryl’s Tech Talk