Cisco SPAs include an intensive analysis of the external state of the network from the perspective of an outside hacker, and a thorough review of the internal state of the network from the perspective of a disgruntled employee or contractor. All corporations should have regular assessments if they believe a secure network is essential for standard business or to conduct sensitive activities such as financial transactions or e-commerce. The assessments will help clients become aware of potential vulnerabilities that could compromise the integrity of their network and its data, and regular assessments will allow clients to analyze trends in their security posture over time. Although the services of the Cisco Secure Consulting Services, formerly known as Security Consulting Services, team focus primarily on providing comprehensive, operational network security audits to large enterprise clients, the team believes that all networks could benefit from an audit. A. Definitions of security services can be as wide ranging as networks themselves.
Some consultants concentrate on defining policy and procedure for the client organization.
These engagements are usually lengthy in nature and require numerous interviews with the client staff. In these penetration tests, which are limited in nature, once the consultant has broken into the client network, the engagement is over. This methodology is extremely comprehensive and results in a thorough report and formal presentation for both management and technical network administrators. Often extremely familiar in dealing with national security-related information, Cisco NSEs understand the extreme sensitivity of handling proprietary and confidential client corporate data. Out of respect for the highly sensitive nature of network security for its clients, Cisco Secure CS does not offer a public list of past clients.