Gigamon releases 2022 TLS Trends Research based on 1.3trn network flows

Gigamon, the leading deep observability company, today released its updated TLS Trends Research report, which highlights levels of encrypted traffic, versions in use and trends over time. While this data is readily available for general internet traffic, Gigamon is the only vendor to publish data on the usage of encryption in intra-organisation lateral communications (East-West traffic).

Cyber attacks are at an all-time high, triggering increasingly strict regulatory standards and data privacy compliance to combat the rapidly evolving threat landscape. As a result, the global encryption software market is expected to grow to $22.1 billion by 2026, a 15% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). However, this is leading cyber criminals to infiltrate Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) sessions to hide and obfuscate their actions. This can lead to SSL/TLS sessions becoming a liability, inadvertently camouflaging malicious traffic.

To avoid being compromised, IT organisations should take the following actions:

• Deliver deep observability – With encrypted traffic attacks having risen an astounding 314% in 2021, with 80% of attacks now using encrypted channels (up 57% from 2020), it is critical that organisations have visibility into all traffic in motion. Only by pairing security and observability tools that provide detailed metrics, events, logs and traces (MELT) with actionable, network-level intelligence derived from packet flows and application metadata, can organisations detect unseen threats and mitigate risk. This powerful combination defines a new frontier of deep observability.
• Safely decrypt and inspect traffic – 81% of all North-South traffic is encrypted, creating a perfect hiding place for cyber criminals. By decrypting traffic with the right level of privacy, organisations have the visibility they need to detect hidden threats.
• Encrypt all feasible East-West traffic – The majority (65%) of East-West network traffic is now encrypted (up from 56% in 2020), leaving 35% of traffic unencrypted. While most headlines tout the risk of cyber espionage and state-sponsored attacks, 43% of IT security incidents occur as a result of employee actions, with 74% originating the extended enterprise (customers, partners and suppliers). Encrypting all feasible East-West traffic provides an opportunity for organisations to improve their security posture.

"This report seeks to provide real-world data on SSL/TLS usage,” said Bassam Khan, vice-president of product and technical marketing at Gigamon. “The findings illustrate why organisations need to rethink their decryption policies and procedures, particularly as TLS 1.3 gains further traction.”

The Gigamon research is based on live data from several dozen enterprises across a range of industries, with a statistical bias towards financial institutions, technology and healthcare. With an aggregate of 1.36 trillion network traffic flows over a 15-month period, the data for each organisation's data was statistically significant.

Download the full report to discover the latest encryption trends and why they have us concerned, what you need to do to gain visibility into all data and protect your network and vital rules for decrypting and inspecting traffic. Also register for our webinar to hear from Gigamon industry experts, who will share key insights on how to fortify your organisation from cyber crime.