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Introduction: The Hidden Challenge After a Cyberattack
When a cyberattack happens, the most difficult question for defenders is often not “How did attackers get in?” but rather “What exactly happened, and can we still trust the affected systems?” Modern attackers increasingly target the very devices that control network traffic, remote access, and enterprise connectivity, including firewalls, VPN gateways, and other network appliances.
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is now urging technology manufacturers to redesign these products with stronger forensic capabilities. The agency argues that cybersecurity cannot end at prevention. Organizations also need reliable tools to investigate breaches, collect evidence, understand attacker behavior, and restore confidence after compromise.
In a new warning, the NCSC highlighted the importance of forensic observability, a concept that could dramatically change how companies respond to cyber incidents. Instead of forcing defenders to reverse engineer devices or rely on unknown vulnerabilities to extract information, manufacturers should provide built-in, secure mechanisms for evidence collection.
NCSC Calls for a New Era of Cybersecurity Visibility
Chris A, technical director for networking and infrastructure at the NCSC, explained that network devices have become attractive targets for threat actors because they sit at critical points inside organizations.
Firewalls, VPN concentrators, routers, and security gateways often provide attackers with powerful positions after compromise. Once breached, these systems can allow criminals to monitor traffic, steal credentials, move laterally across networks, and maintain long-term persistence.
According to the NCSC, defenders frequently face a major problem: they cannot easily determine what happened inside these devices.
Many products provide limited logs, incomplete telemetry, or no practical way to collect forensic evidence. As a result, security teams may spend weeks trying to understand whether a device was compromised, what data was exposed, and whether the attacker remains active.
The agency believes this situation must change.
What Is Forensic Observability and Why Does It Matter?
The NCSC defines forensic observability as the ability of a device to provide the information required for effective investigation after a security incident.
This includes several important capabilities:
Detailed and reliable telemetry.
Secure event logging.
Configuration history and current state visibility.
Memory forensic collection.
Data-at-rest analysis.
Clear software identification.
Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) availability.
These features allow defenders to answer critical questions quickly:
Was the device actually compromised?
Which accounts or processes were affected?
Did attackers modify configurations?
Was malware installed?
Can the system safely return to production?
Without forensic visibility, organizations often operate blindly after an attack.
Why Network Appliances Are Becoming Prime Cyberattack Targets
Network infrastructure devices have become one of the most valuable targets for sophisticated threat actors.
Unlike traditional endpoints such as laptops or workstations, network appliances often have:
High privileges.
Direct internet exposure.
Access to internal networks.
Long operational lifespans.
Limited monitoring capabilities.
Attackers understand that compromising a firewall or VPN gateway can provide a strategic advantage.
Recent years have shown repeated examples of threat groups targeting edge devices from major vendors. These attacks often exploit vulnerabilities, steal authentication information, and create hidden access paths that allow attackers to return even after organizations believe they have recovered.
The NCSC’s warning reflects a broader industry concern: prevention alone is no longer enough. Security teams need visibility after failure occurs.
Manufacturers Must Design for Investigation, Not Only Prevention
The NCSC argues that forensic capabilities should not be added as an emergency feature after a product is released. They should be considered during the original design process.
Chris A emphasized that small engineering decisions can significantly reduce investigation time.
For example, a device that records meaningful security events, maintains configuration history, and allows secure evidence collection can help investigators understand an attack within hours.
A device without those features may force defenders to perform expensive research, reverse engineering, or even develop custom tools to extract basic information.
The agency believes manufacturers should provide supported forensic mechanisms rather than forcing customers to investigate their own products.
Three Common Myths About Forensic Observability
Myth One: Better Visibility Helps Attackers
Some manufacturers fear that exposing more information could give attackers additional opportunities.
However, the NCSC argues that properly designed forensic features improve security rather than weaken it.
Secure logging systems, authenticated evidence collection, and controlled forensic interfaces can provide defenders with valuable information without exposing unnecessary details.
The goal is not to reveal sensitive internals publicly. The goal is to give authorized defenders the ability to investigate their own systems.
Myth Two: Customers Will Reject More Monitoring Features
Another misconception is that customers may dislike additional telemetry or forensic capabilities.
The NCSC believes the opposite is true.
In a world where cyber incidents are becoming more frequent, customers increasingly value transparency and accountability.
A vendor that provides strong forensic capabilities demonstrates confidence in its products and commitment to customer protection.
Security visibility can become a competitive advantage rather than a burden.
Myth Three: Building Forensic Features Is Too Difficult
The NCSC acknowledges that forensic observability requires careful engineering.
However, the agency argues that it is achievable when considered early.
Security-by-design principles already encourage manufacturers to think about authentication, encryption, and vulnerability prevention from the beginning.
Forensic readiness should become another standard design requirement.
Deep Analysis: Building the Future of Forensic-Ready Network Devices
Modern cybersecurity investigations increasingly depend on speed. Attackers operate quickly, often moving from initial compromise to data theft or ransomware deployment within hours.
A device without forensic visibility creates uncertainty.
Security teams need answers:
What changed?
When did it happen?
Who accessed the system?
Which files were modified?
Is the attacker still present?
Forensic observability transforms cybersecurity from a guessing process into an evidence-driven investigation.
Manufacturers should consider implementing:
Structured security logging.
Cryptographically protected audit trails.
Secure remote evidence collection.
Memory dump capabilities.
Hardware-backed identity verification.
Configuration snapshots.
SBOM integration.
Example commands defenders may use during investigations:
Check active network connections netstat -tulpn
Review recent authentication events
journalctl -u ssh --since "24 hours ago"
Check running processes
ps aux
Review system changes
find /etc -type f -mtime -1
Generate system information report
uname -a
For enterprise network appliances, equivalent functionality should exist through vendor-supported tools and APIs.
The future of cybersecurity requires devices that can explain their own behavior.
A secure product should not become a black box during the most critical moment of an incident.
Global Cooperation to Improve Network Appliance Security
The NCSC is not working alone.
The agency is collaborating with international partners to create a reference architecture for forensic observability in network appliances and similar technologies.
This framework could help establish common expectations across the cybersecurity industry.
A standardized approach would benefit:
Security vendors.
Enterprise customers.
Government organizations.
Incident response teams.
Managed security providers.
The objective is creating safe forensic access without introducing new risks.
What IT Buyers Should Demand From Vendors
The NCSC also encouraged organizations purchasing technology to ask manufacturers about forensic capabilities.
Security teams should evaluate whether products provide:
Complete logging.
Evidence collection features.
Software transparency.
SBOM availability.
Secure investigation workflows.
Organizations should no longer evaluate products only by prevention features.
A firewall that blocks attacks but cannot explain what happened afterward creates operational risk.
The next generation of cybersecurity products must support both defense and investigation.
What Undercode Say:
The cybersecurity industry has spent decades focusing primarily on prevention.
Firewalls, antivirus solutions, endpoint detection platforms, and access controls have become essential security layers.
However, every security professional understands one uncomfortable truth: eventually, some defenses will fail.
The question is not whether attackers will attempt to compromise systems.
The question is whether defenders will have enough visibility when it happens.
The NCSC’s forensic observability initiative highlights a major weakness in modern technology design.
Many devices are built to operate efficiently but not to explain their own behavior.
This creates a dangerous gap between compromise detection and incident understanding.
Attackers benefit from this gap because uncertainty creates delays.
Every hour spent trying to understand an incident gives adversaries more time to expand access.
Network appliances are especially sensitive because they represent strategic control points.
A compromised endpoint may affect one employee.
A compromised firewall or VPN gateway can expose an entire organization.
Manufacturers must rethink their responsibility.
Security is not only about preventing unauthorized access.
Security also means helping legitimate owners recover after failure.
Forensic capabilities should become a standard feature, similar to encryption or authentication.
Customers should demand transparency from vendors.
Organizations should ask difficult questions before purchasing critical infrastructure.
Can this device provide evidence after compromise?
Can investigators determine what changed?
Can administrators verify whether the device is trustworthy?
If the answer is no, the product introduces unnecessary uncertainty.
The cybersecurity market is moving toward accountability.
Vendors that embrace forensic observability will likely gain customer confidence.
Companies that ignore it may face increasing pressure from regulators, governments, and enterprise buyers.
The future of cybersecurity will not belong only to products that stop attacks.
It will belong to products that help organizations understand, recover, and improve after attacks.
Visibility is becoming the new foundation of digital trust.
✅ The NCSC promotes forensic observability as a cybersecurity design principle.
The agency has published guidance encouraging manufacturers to build products that support evidence collection, logging, and investigation after compromise.
✅ Network devices are increasingly targeted by attackers.
Firewalls, VPN gateways, and internet-facing appliances have become common targets because they provide privileged access to enterprise environments.
✅ Forensic observability includes telemetry, logging, configuration information, and software transparency.
The concept focuses on enabling defenders to investigate incidents without depending on reverse engineering or unsupported methods.
❌ Forensic observability means exposing all device information publicly.
This is incorrect. Proper implementations rely on controlled access, authentication, and secure evidence collection mechanisms.
Prediction
(+1) The cybersecurity industry will increasingly adopt forensic-ready product standards.
As cyberattacks become more advanced, organizations will demand technology that supports investigation as well as prevention.
Manufacturers that integrate forensic observability early into product development will likely gain stronger customer trust and competitive advantages.
Future security certifications may include requirements for logging quality, evidence collection, and software transparency.
Governments and critical infrastructure operators are expected to push vendors toward greater accountability.
The next generation of network devices will likely evolve from simple defensive tools into intelligent security evidence platforms.
(-1) Vendors that ignore forensic visibility may face growing security and compliance pressure.
Companies that continue producing opaque devices may struggle as customers demand faster incident response capabilities.
Regulators may eventually introduce stronger requirements for transparency and post-compromise investigation support.
Products that cannot provide reliable forensic evidence could become difficult to deploy in sensitive environments.
The cybersecurity market is moving toward a future where visibility is no longer optional — it is a requirement.
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