Product Companies: Stop Depending On Your Customer’s Security
In the fast-evolving world of software development, security by design in software development is no longer just a best practice—it’s a necessity.
The rise of connected products, IoT, and increasingly complex digital ecosystems means that product providers can no longer safely rely on the security measures of their customers when they deploy their products. Instead, companies must embed security directly into their products from the start, ensuring that they don’t introduce vulnerabilities into customer networks.
This is where NetFoundry comes in. If you’re a software company or a manufacturer of smart connected products, we can help make your products secure by design. The NetFoundry platform is a secure networking platform with SDKs that enable zero trust connectivity and secure networking to be embedded directly into applications and products. With NetFoundry, you can rapidly create an AppNet™, a microsegmented, zero trust overlay network, that can then be embedded into your application for secure connectivity.
Embeddable Networking as Code: The Next Big Trend
As the industry embraces Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and Networking as Code (NaC) to automate and streamline IT operations and infrastructure management, a new trend is emerging— Embedded Networking as Code (ENaC). This shift allows developers to leverage secure networking in application design and development, making it easy to use zero trust networks for connectivity programmatically.
With NetFoundry’s SDKs, product companies can now integrate Embedded Networking as Code into their development processes, enabling secure communication between products, systems, and services without relying on external security measures, such as VPNs or firewalls. This approach aligns perfectly with the principles of security by design in software development, where security is built-in and embedded within the software from the outset rather than bolted on later.
Why Product Providers Must Embrace Security by Design
Many product companies deploy their solutions on customer networks, but the reality is that these networks often have their own vulnerabilities. Relying on customer bolted-on network security exposes companies to unnecessary risks. Product providers must take security into their own hands, and that responsibility starts during the product design and software development process.
NetFoundry’s platform helps companies achieve this by allowing them to integrate zero trust principles directly into their applications. This eliminates the need for insecure methods like VPN access or opening holes in firewalls. By embedding security features directly into the product, companies not only protect themselves but also ensure that they aren’t introducing vulnerabilities into their customers’ environments.
Zero Trust Connectivity: Secure by Design
Zero trust connectivity means that no device or user is trusted by default, even if they are within the network perimeter. This concept is at the core of NetFoundry’s “secure by design” approach. By leveraging NetFoundry’s platform, companies can build secure, programmable, and scalable networks that ensure secure access only for verified identities and devices.
With zero trust principles embedded from the start, companies can confidently deploy products without worrying about external security measures or the reliability of their customers’ networks. This is particularly crucial for providers of physical systems or software who need to ensure that their solutions are secure, reliable, and scalable across various environments.
Transforming Product Design for the Future
To stay competitive and protect both themselves and their customers, product providers must take control of security at every level, starting from the product design phase. This shift towards security by design in software development enables companies to future-proof their products, ensuring that they are resilient to modern cyber threats. As more product companies adopt Embedded Networking as Code and zero trust principles, this integrated, proactive approach to security will become the industry standard.
NetFoundry’s unique approach, a secure networking software platform, is at the forefront of this transformation, providing the tools product providers need to create secure, smart connected products. By embedding zero trust connectivity directly into the fabric of their products, companies can ensure secure, seamless networking from development to deployment.
In this recent LinkedIn post from our CEO, Develop Once, Deploy Anywhere, Deliver Everywhere, Galeal Zino emphasizes integrating secure networking directly into developer platforms, just as AWS did with compute, Twilio with communications, and GitHub with DevOps. He criticizes traditional models of bolted-on security and proprietary WANs as disconnected from application development, leading to security vulnerabilities. He also advocates for a transformative model where secure networking becomes part of the developer ecosystem, enabling seamless development, deployment, and delivery with built-in security, performance, and control—ultimately making products secure by design.
Conclusion: Security by Design in Software Development
In today’s interconnected world, security by design in software development is essential. Product companies can no longer rely on their customers’ networks for protection. Instead, they must embed security into their products, starting from the design phase and continuing through development. NetFoundry’s platform, with its SDKs and zero trust connectivity, empowers companies to take control of their security, ensuring that their products are not only secure but also scalable and resilient for the future. As the industry embraces embeddable secure networking, those who adopt security by design will lead the way in building safer, more secure applications and systems.
Start embedding security into your products today with NetFoundry’s platform. There’s a 30 day free trial available, a perfect way to learn more about the platform, SKDs and start prototyping.