Understanding Cisco’s Evolving Strategy for Remote Connectivity and Security: A Guide for Umbrella Customers

In today’s rapidly changing digital landscape, companies are increasingly adopting remote work policies and expanding their use of cloud services. As the technology world expands its operations into the cloud, threat actors have adapted their tactics accordingly. With this shift comes the need for stronger, more efficient security solutions that can safeguard users, regardless of where they are located. Cisco, a leader in network and security solutions, has recognized this trend and evolved its offerings to provide enhanced security features for remote connectivity. 

If you're currently a Cisco Umbrella customer, particularly using its basic DNS security features, you may be wondering how to take advantage of Cisco's more advanced security solutions, like Secure Internet Gateway (SIG), Secure Access, or VPN as a Service. This post will guide you through the evolution of Cisco’s security portfolio and highlight the most effective migration paths for your business. 

From Basic DNS Security to Full Cloud Security: What’s Changed? 

Cisco Umbrella, formally OpenDNS, started as a DNS-layer security solution, providing basic protection against malicious websites and content. It's a great starting point for businesses looking to prevent users from accessing harmful online destinations. However, as threats have evolved, so has Cisco’s suite of security solutions. Now, Umbrella is much more than just DNS security—Cisco has introduced more comprehensive cloud-based solutions that combine multiple layers of protection. 

Step 1: Migrating to Cisco Umbrella SIG (Secure Internet Gateway) 

For businesses that are looking to expand beyond basic DNS protection, the next logical step is Cisco Umbrella SIG (Secure Internet Gateway). SIG is a cloud-delivered solution that includes a range of advanced security features, such as but not limited to: 

• Secure Web Gateway (SWG): Protects users from malicious web traffic, content filtering, and data exfiltration risks, ensuring that all internet traffic, even from remote users, is secure. 

• Application Visibility and Control: With SIG, you gain visibility into the applications your users are accessing. You can set policies to block or allow specific apps, regardless of where users are connecting from. 

• Cloud-Delivered Firewall: SIG introduces firewall capabilities in the cloud, allowing you to enforce policies for all outbound traffic, including those from remote users and branch offices. This eliminates the need for expensive hardware-based firewalls at each location. 

• Data Loss Prevention (DLP): SIG also includes DLP capabilities, which can help prevent sensitive data from being leaked or compromised. 

For most Cisco Umbrella customers, the transition from basic DNS security to SIG is a straightforward upgrade. You get more visibility into user activity, better protection from malicious threats, and cloud-based enforcement of policies—all of which are crucial as businesses continue to adopt cloud-first strategies. 

Step 2: Introducing VPN as a Service with Cisco Secure Access 

The next evolution of security in Cisco’s portfolio is Secure Access. While SIG provides robust security features, Secure Access introduces VPN as a Service, a game-changer for businesses with remote or hybrid workforces. This service allows users to connect securely to corporate resources without routing all traffic back to headquarters. 

What’s the advantage of VPN as a Service? Traditionally, remote workers would connect to a corporate VPN, which would then route all traffic back through the company’s headquarters firewalls or dedicated VPN concentrators sitting behind the firewalls. This setup can create bottlenecks, slow down performance, and require significant investment in hardware and software. With Cisco Secure Access, your users can connect directly to the cloud, with security policies enforced in real-time and the data flow no longer needs to route everything through a pair of centralized firewalls.   

• More Efficient Traffic Flow: By eliminating the need for all traffic to go through a central pair of corporate firewalls, Secure Access reduces latency and improves overall network performance. 

• Cloud-Hosted Security: Since traffic is routed through Cisco’s cloud-based infrastructure, it’s protected by the same secure policies that you're on-premises employees would receive. This means a more scalable, efficient, and cost-effective solution for businesses of all sizes. 

• Scalability & Cost Efficiency: The cloud-based model reduces the need for large firewalls at headquarters and scales with your business’s needs. This is a big cost-saving opportunity, especially as your workforce becomes more distributed. 

For businesses that may leverage Cisco Meraki within their environments, Cisco Secure Connect is an excellent fit as it integrates seamlessly with Meraki’s existing tools and more of a turnkey solution. However, even if you do not have Meraki, Secure Access is more modular and will provide significant benefits, especially for companies with large remote teams or a cloud-first, hybrid, or on-prem infrastructure. 

Step 3: Comprehensive Security with Cisco Secure Access 

For many organizations, Cisco’s Secure Access represents a comprehensive approach to remote connectivity and security. By combining DNS security, SWG, cloud delivered security features, VPN as a Service, and more, businesses can secure their remote users and branch offices with minimal hardware investment. 

Secure Access allows you to offload traditional VPN services to the cloud, reducing the need for expensive on-premises infrastructure. You can also scale your firewall resources dynamically to match your business’s growth, allowing for more flexible security management. 

Key Benefits: 

• Better Security Coverage: Whether your users are working in the office or remotely, their internet traffic is always protected by Cisco’s cloud-based security. 

• Seamless Integration with Other Cisco Products: If you are already using Meraki or other Cisco products, you can easily integrate Secure Access and Secure Connect into your existing infrastructure. 

• Reduced Complexity: With more cloud-delivered security services, there’s less need for complex hardware management and maintenance. Cisco’s subscription-based services are easy to manage and always up to date. 

Chart Information Provided by Cisco

How To Plan and Determine Next Steps: 

If you are currently using basic Cisco Umbrella DNS security, you might wonder how to smoothly transition to the more advanced features like Secure Internet Gateway (SIG), Secure Connect or Secure Access. Here is a simplified migration path: 

1. Assess Your Current Needs: Begin by evaluating your current security requirements. Are you mainly concerned with DNS security, or do you need more comprehensive protection for your remote users and branches? 

2. Engage with Internetwork Engineering a Presidio Company sales and presales team: Work with IE’s team to understand your options and determine the best path forward. They can help to identify whether SIG, Secure Connect or Secure Access would be a good fit for your business. 

3. Begin with SIG Upgrade: If you’re looking to add more features like a cloud-delivered firewall or secure web gateway, start by upgrading to Umbrella SIG. This will provide the added protection and visibility you need. 

4. Add Secure Access (VPN as a Service): Once you have SIG in place or if you know that you will need VPN as a Service as an option, consider transitioning to Cisco Secure Connect or Access to provide cloud-based VPN services for your remote users. This reduces reliance on traditional data center firewalls and VPN hardware. 

5. Ongoing Monitoring and Optimization: As your business continues to scale, monitor traffic flows, user activity, and policy enforcement to ensure your security solutions are meeting your needs. 

A Secure, Scalable Future with Cisco 

Cisco’s evolving strategy around remote connectivity and security reflects the changing needs of businesses today. Whether you're starting with basic DNS security or already leveraging Cisco’s more advanced solutions, there’s an easy upgrade path that can provide stronger, more efficient protection for your organization. 

By migrating to Cisco’s Secure Internet Gateway, Secure Access, and VPN-as-a-Service offerings, you’ll benefit from cloud-based security that’s scalable, cost-effective, and always up to date. Best of all, these solutions are designed to ensure that your remote and branch-office users are protected no matter where they are located, without the complexity and costs of traditional on-premises solutions. IE can help you transition smoothly to maximize these benefits and secure your cloud environment.  

Ready to get started? Contact your IE account manager or CX team to explore your migration options today.