Using SPAN to monitor your network can be a security vulnerability itself. Network switches are not designed or optimized for monitoring purposes. Watch this video to understand:

• When you use a SPAN port to mirror and relay network traffic to a Monitoring Tool, it not only impairs the fundamental job of the switch, that is, forwarding the network traffic to its destinations, but also compromises network security. A hacker can infiltrate the network and shut down the SPAN session, creating a blind spot, before starting the actual cyberattack, such as injecting malware, bringing down an application, or stealing sensitive data. Hence, security monitoring tools would not see a breach.

• A network TAP on the other hand, is deployed directly in the network wire to mirror a copy of the network data to the monitoring tools. It has no MAC or IP address and cannot be detected or hacked. It does not suffer from performance impairment. Therefore, there are never any blind spots, and you get a hundred percent network visibility around the clock.

• Businesses that care about business continuity, user experiences, and customer data protection always use a scalable and no-compromise network visibility approach through TAPs as a solid foundation layer. NEOX Networks offers the industry’s best-of-the-breed network TAPs consisting of its PacketRaven, PacketHawk, and PacketRoo family as part of its Network Visibility Platform.