Many network administrators over the years have viewed information security technologies as somewhat of a necessary evil, as opposed to a necessity. Security costs like the purchase and maintenance of firewalls, web filtering, anti-malware scanning, and encryption are seen as an additional burden as well as and excuse to spike spending plans. However, while security has not been a large part of the discussion up until now, as the threat landscape expands, it is becoming more of an imperative.

As organizations struggle to figure out how to secure their environments in the most efficient way possible, certain technologies are emerging to help. SDN (software defined networking), which is still in its early stages, has the potential to streamline security processes and even overcome large-scale cloud-based threats. Through harnessing the network footprint for dynamic threat response, SDN can be utilized to improve efficiency and reduce network downtime.

Join us, Tuesday 8/27 at 11 a.m. Pacific Time, as we examine technologies and solutions related to SDN and it's impact on data center security. Led by Ken Beck, from the Cisco Office of the CTO, and Evelyn de Souza, the discussion will also include participants from key partners, analysts and industry luminaries.

The chat will address various security-related topics, including:

• How to secure SDN environments
• How to secure the controller
• Leveraging SDN to streamline security processes
• Leveraging SDN to overcome cloud-based threats

This is a great opportunity for those interested in, or responsible for business-data security to learn from top industry experts and a panel of distinguished engineers about the future of data center security through SDN.

Logistics: How do I participate in this Twitter chat?

1. Find

-Search for the #SecureDChashtag (via Twubs, TweetDeck, or another Twitter client) and watch the real-time stream.

2. Follow

- @e_desouza and @SecDatacenter will get the conversation rolling by posing a few questions to participants.

3. Engage!

-Tweet your reactions, questions and @reply's to the chat, making sure to use the#SecureDC hashtag.

-The#SecureDC chat should last about an hour.