Tag Archives: security

BAE Systems rings Cloud Security Solutions to New Zealand and Australia

BAE Systems Applied Intelligence is going to bring its Cloud Security solutions to the area of New Zealand and Australia for the first time. It is introducing security products that will hopefully defend users against email based threats such as targeted and ‘Zero Day’ attacks. The solutions are supposedly very effective; they will reduce integration time and complexity while simultaneously offers an alternative to on premise cloud software and hardware.

BAE Systems Applied Intelligence director cyber security products a proclaimed that many nosiness are naïve when it comes to email based threats, as many cyber attacks begin with an email. Blount stated, “Whether this is a targeted spear-phishing campaign or a shotgun-approach distribution of ransomware, the likelihood of success is unfortunately very high in the absence of the necessary protection.”

 cloud security One of the first services being offered in the New Zealand and Australia region is its Email Protection Service, which provides extensive protection against some of the most advanced threats. “With 70 to 90 per cent of malware being unique to any single organization, the most difficult attacks to defend against are Zero Day attacks,” Blount said. ”These are attacks that are unknown or have not previously been seen and that, as a consequence, require advanced defense.” The main element of the Email Protection Service is the Zero Day Prevention, which analyzes emails within the cloud for malicious content before it may reach the recipient.

One of the largest risks to businesses is the accidental or intentional leak of data. Because many companies are quite unprepared for this type of issue, BAE systems provides Insider Threat Prevention service, which will make it considerably easier to find as well as investigate such issues.

Blount also added “Our Cloud-based cyber security solutions leverage BAE Systems’ expertise as a leader in risk analytics and cyber defense. With this launch, we are introducing A/NZ businesses to a new kind of protection against sophisticated cyber-attacks. Because the solutions are cloud-based, they are easy to buy, consume and manage with a short delivery time frame. And they have the inherent flexibility to scale up or down as required, so companies assess what they need and have a service which can grow with their organization,”

 

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Painful Breakups: The Beatles, Ben & Jen, Now Symantec & Veritas

You probably saw the rumors come across Twitter, Facebook or on the newsstands in a checkout aisle. Perhaps, like me, you never thought it would actually happen, but the day is coming. Grab a tissue, Symantec and Veritas are breaking up.

Years ago, Symantec, an anti-virus company, merged with Veritas, a backup company known for such products as Backup and Netbackup forming a super power of sorts. This, however, is changing. Although Symantec and Veritas have been a staple in our lives for many years, starting next month they will be separated.

veritasWe’ve seen some tough breakups in the past. The Beatles, Ben and Jen, Britney and Justin, Ross and Rachel, Belichick and Revis, Peaches & Herb, (but I think they reunited), yet this Symantec and Veritas drama really stings. Like all good relationships, this one is coming to an end.

What’s the Deal?

Starting Friday October 2nd all backup related products like Backup Exec and Netbackup will change. This will be the last day to order these products under the current Symantec pricing and part number model.

On Monday October 5th any existing, open quotes for Backup Exec and Netbackup will need to be re-quoted using Veritas’s part numbers and pricing. The new Veritas SKUs won’t be visible until October 5th so, unless that changes, the new Veritas quotes can’t be created until October 5th. Since there is so much change taking place, there is a good possibility that pricing, at least on certain products, could change and increase.

Renewals: Big Change here. With Veritas, there will no longer be a 30 day grace period to get your renewals orders in. So, any Backup Exec and Netbackup renewals will have to be placed prior to its expiration date, otherwise Veritas will apply reinstatement fees. This will be strictly enforced.

There are no changes to Symantec i.e. AV products.

Dates to know:

Friday October 2nd – Last day to use Symantec related quotes for Backup Exec and Netbackup. This includes new and renewal quotes.

Monday October 5th – The new Vertias SKU’s will become available. Any open quotes will need to change over to the new part numbers. Pricing will likely change as well.

What Next?

If you’re working with GreenPages we will provide you a new Veritas quote, however, because we don’t currently know if there will be a price increase, we’d recommend placing your order prior to Friday October 2nd. Also, GreenPages has fantastic backup and retention solution architects and engineers. If you have any questions on Veritas or any other venders you could potentially switch over to, please let us know.

 

By Rob O’Shaugnessy, Director of Software Sales & Renewals

The Hacked Landscape: Protecting Your Organization from Modern Threats

Security is one of, if not the, top concerns among IT professionals. Every week it seems a new, widely publicized breach occurs. Some vendors claim to have a silver bullet solution that is a cure-all for every security need. But is that the case? In this video, I talk about the current “hacked landscape,” how preventative measures to keeping information safe has changed, and the approach organizations should be taking to security.

 

 

Interested in speaking more with Dan about security? Reach out!

 

By Dan Allen, Solutions Architect

The Emerging Technology Landscape: The New, the Hot, and the Unconventional

I recently did a video to discuss the emerging technology landscape around three primary areas:

  1. Revamping traditional customer-owned infrastructure
  2. Mobility
  3. Security

On the traditional side, hyper-converged infrastructure is huge. Players including SimpliVity, Nutanix and VMware with EVO:RAIL will be making a big impact over the next 12 months. We’re also seeing a lot of traction with our customer base around what they should move to a cloud environment. How do you rationalize your application portfolio? What about the people and process piece? How are you going to operationalize the technology you implement? How do you get your teams trained to be able to handle new challenges? This is where GreenPages’ Transformation Services really comes into play.

As far as mobility goes, security and access are huge here. Organizations need to look into segmenting mobile devices. For example, cutting a phone in half – having a personal side of the phone and a business side of the phone. Employees can have personal apps and games on one side and have the other be for business critical applications. The business side can be locked down and if an employee leaves, the business side can be wiped while leaving the personal side of the phone alone.

Enjoy the video & please reach out with any questions or comments!

 

Download eBook – The Evolution of Your Corporate IT Department

 

 

By Chris Ward, CTO, LogicsOne

Wuala Cloud Storage Shut Down

Seagate and its LaCie subsidiary have announced the cancellation its Wuala cloud storage service. The closure is set to be complete November 15th. The company stated, “Seagate is discontinuing service of Wuala in order to focus attention on the key areas of business that we see the most opportunity for our growth and revenue. Our partnerships with established consumer and SMB cloud offerings continue to demonstrate strong value to our customers, leading us to the decision to discontinue development of our own service.”

After Novemeber 15th, all data will be deleted, so, the company has advised users to begin to download or transfer their content. It is recommended they use Tresorit, end-to-end encrypted cloud storage service and is offering both an easy transfer and discount upon subscription. Customers who paid upfront for the cloud service may receive a refund.

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Dr Chenxi Wang, VP of cloud security and strategy at CipherCloud, has stated, “Wuala’s closure is emblematic of the commoditisation of cloud storage. We’re likely to see more closures and consolidations, which will mean more end users asking the same questions about their data and business continuity. These closures are highly disruptive for businesses. Customers are unexpectedly having to find another storage provider and face time pressures for moving their data out or face losing it. Aside from the business disruption, customers also have to worry about confidentiality for their data. What measures will Wuala take when they delete data? Will Wuala literally overwrite the bits on the disks, or will they simply delete the handle to the data?”

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Cryptzone Joins CSA

Cryptzone has joined the Cloud Security Alliance, a not for profit organization that serves to promote the best practices for providing security within the realm of cloud computing as well as disseminating information pertaining to the myriad of cloud computing uses. Cryptzone provides a dynamic context-aware network, application and content security solutions.

Jim Reavis, CEO of the CSA, has stated, “Cryptzone offers a unique, comprehensive approach to securing data across both on-premises and cloud-based networks – a model that is very typical of what we see end-users leveraging today. Cryptzone offers a unique, comprehensive approach to securing data across both on-premises and cloud-based networks – a model that is very typical of what we see end-users leveraging today.”
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Cryptzone has an extensive portfolio of solutions including but not limited to AppGate, a dynamic, context aware security gateway that prevents unauthorized access, Compliance Sheriff, which provides content governance for public websites, intranets and extranets, and Simple Encryption Platform, which secures data in email, removable storage, files and folders.

Kurt A. Mueffelmann, President and CEO of Cryptzone has also said, “Sophisticated cyberattacks are forcing enterprises to dramatically shift their thinking on how they secure their most valuable data and assets. The CSA has been at the forefront of research, not only to secure cloud computing, but to leverage the cloud to secure your entire compute infrastructure. We look forward to working with the CSA to further this research, and educate enterprises on how they can leverage best practices and proven models to improve their security posture now and for the future.”

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Symantec to sell IM business Vertias for $8.9bn

Symantec is selling its IM business to an investor consoritum

Symantec is selling its IM business to an investor consoritum and refocusing on security

Digital security heavyweight Symantec announced this week it would sell its information management business, Veritas, to a group led by The Carlyle Group together with GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, for a total of $8.3bn.

The move confirms Symantec will continue to focus on security following the announcement last October that the company would split in two, with its IM business and security business going separate ways.

“Since the Board first announced the separation of Veritas, we have been preparing the company to operate independently and evolving our business strategy, while continuing to deliver industry-leading solutions to our customers. We are thrilled to partner with The Carlyle Group and GIC, which have a strong track record of successfully growing businesses and share our dedication to Veritas’ strategy and success,” said John Gannon, Symantec executive vice president and Veritas general manager.

“Veritas will continue to provide next-generation information management solutions to serve the world’s largest and most complex environments, including multiple cloud deployments, managed services and on-premise infrastructure,” Gannon said.

Symantec expects to receive $6.3bn in cash for Veritas, and has authorized a $1.5bn increase to its existing share repurchase program, bringing the total to $2.6 billion, yielding a total of $8.9bn from the sale. Veritas was originally acquired by Symantec for $13.5bn in 2005.

Michael A. Brown, Symantec president and chief executive said: “This transaction strengthens our financial foundation, paving the way for Symantec to grow its security business and increase its lead as the world’s largest cybersecurity company. We believe the agreement with the investors, including The Carlyle Group and GIC, delivers an attractive and certain value for the Veritas business, and is in the best interests of all stakeholders.”

The divestment isn’t terribly surprising giving Symantec’s messaging at the tail end of last year. Upon announcing the company would split Brown said its security and IM businesses each face unique market opportunities and challenges.

“It has become clear that winning in both security and information management requires distinct strategies, focused investments and go-to market innovation,” he said at the time.

Now it seems Symentec is refocusing exclusively on security, and said the sale would give it a much needed cash influx to help it fund both organic and inorganic growth through targeted acquisitions.

Fortinet Announcement

Fortinet, a global leader in high-performance cybersecurity solutions, has recently announced improvements to its FortiCloud management system. In addition, it announced a new line of cloud managed wireless access points. This marks yet another investment into the secure wireless networking market. Fortinet’s “FortiAP-S series” wireless LAN (WLAN) APs among the most secure cloud managed Wi-Fi products in the world, so, companies will not need to compromise security while managing their enterprise wireless LAN from the cloud.

John Maddison, vice president of marketing at Fortinet, has stated “Fortinet’s new FortiAP-S series combines the flexibility of cloud management, the latest generation of wireless access point technology and the proven security of FortiGuard, all forming a secure wireless architecture for enterprise access networks. We can now apply mobile-specific security policies and updates such as application control and virus scanning directly to the wireless access points, giving the customer a layer of perimeter defense for BYOD devices.”
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The FortiAP-S series APs have a plethora of security features such as intrusion prevention, web filtering, rouge AP detection, antivirus security protection, granular application controls and more, all running directly on the access point. These features are backed by FortiGuard Labs’ threat intelligence. This level of hardware has been created through Fortinet’s extensive expertise.

Scott Fuhriman, vice president of sales and product development at TierPoint, a national provider of managed services, as said “We’ve worked closely with Fortinet to deliver best-in-class, business enabling wireless solutions that are tailored to meet the unique needs of each of our customers.”

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Zscaler raises $100m in round led by TPG

California based Zscaler, which provides security-as-a-service (SAAS), has raised $100 million dollars in Series B funding round. This was led largely by late stage investor TPG. Other investments have come from existing investors EMC, the storage company, and Lightspeed Ventures. The company has now raised well over $130 million dollars and its valuation last round was estimated to be at over a billion.
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Jay Chaudhry, CEO of Zscaler, has said in a recent announcement, “Our mission is to make the Internet safe for business by delivering an amazing security platform that protects our clients and enables the strategic adoption of cloud computing, mobile devices and the Internet of Things. The investment and partnership from TPG and the global relationships and experience they provide will enable us to accelerate investment in our technology, grow our customer base and aggressively scale our business to meet growing demand. We are excited to join an elite group of security companies valued in excess of $1 billion.”
The companies’ customer base has nearly doubled since last year. The company has an estimated 5000 customers, including Humana, NBC, ExxonMobil and the UK’s National Health Services, and protects over 13 million employees.
Nehal Raj, a partner at TPG, and now a Zscaler board member, has also said, “We see tremendous opportunity in the rapidly growing cybersecurity industry, and after spending significant time in the space, we found Zscaler to be the leading cloud-based security solution for the world’s largest and most demanding customers — a true SaaS platform like that of Salesforce or Workday. We are looking forward to partnering with Jay and his team to accelerate growth, most immediately by introducing Zscaler to the potential customers and channel partners within our global network.”

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Rackspace To Host Information Center

The Cloud Security Alliance has taken the initiative to unify cloud service providers to allow for the creation of a peer based information sharing center. This sharing center will be co-chaired by Brian Kelly, CSO at cloud firm Rackspace and the founder and CEO of anonymous cyber incident sharing platform TruStar, Dave Cullinane.
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Kelly has said,”The whole concept emerged from what we refer to as Presidential Decision Directive 63, which we started back in May of 1998. Under the Clinton administration they convened a group of people to look at the initiatives needed for the protection of the nation’s critical infrastructure. It had a number of directives, one of which being the formation of a range of information sharing and analysis centers, and a few of them formed immediately — financial services, information technology and telecommunications.”

In addition, Kelly has said that in 15 years these centers have been operable, they have been to learn and improve this new independent information sharing center. “I think, largely, they were ineffective for the initial 5-10 years as participants weren’t really providing anything and they were just there to consume information, and it was not really timely enough, nor was it actionable. From a security perspective, we need to represent a unified front. We have to work as one team. I need to be able to call my buddy at Amazon on a moment’s notice, and Google needs to be able to call me to tell me what they’ve found.”

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