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| Friday, 28 March 2008 | |
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Sophos debuts unified endpoint security and network access control…
IT security and control firm Sophos has introduced what is billed as industry's first unified endpoint security solution to include bundled network access control (NAC) - at no extra cost. The Sophos ‘Endpoint Security and Control release 8.0’ offering integrates anti-virus, anti-spyware, host intrusion prevention, application control, firewall and NAC to block viruses and spyware as well as making sure that computers are running authorised up-to-date software and adhering to company policies. The release 8.0 announcement coincided with preliminary research from Sophos that revealed that two out of every three corporate computers are failing to meet standards because they are running out-of-date anti-virus, missing security patches or have a disabled firewall. “Historically it's been difficult for IT managers to know whether their users' computers are safe, protected and compliant with corporate policies. NAC has been touted as the answer to this problem, but has often been beyond the reach of most companies in terms of budget and resource,” offers John Shaw, director, endpoint security and control, Sophos. “We are addressing this pain with ‘Endpoint Security and Control 8.0’ - delivering preventive protection, in a form that is simple to roll-out at no additional charge. Its integrated NAC and application control technology gives administrators the confidence that all the computers on their network are updated with the latest security patches and are only running authorised software.” Sophos says it claims are backed up by a recent survey from Forrester Research, which revealed that approximately 40% of companies surveyed have tried to install NAC, but only 4% were able to complete the implementation, blaming the excessive complexity of network-based models. By integrating NAC with endpoint security protection, the new Sophos offering aims to simplify implementation, enabling, calculates the company, the mainstream adoption of the technology. In the view of the Ovum consultancy the Sophos move is likely to have repercussions for the wider IT security business. “Sophos is trying to simplify network access control deployment. It is adding in NAC features within the core endpoint protection AV product, at no extra charge. It is also bundling the NAC functionality, along with some security-related configuration management, into its existing endpoint anti-virus agent and its existing management console,” says Ovum principal analyst Graham Titterington in a posting forming part of that company’s ‘EuroView Daily Comment’ service. “These moves will give the other vendors a competitive challenge and underline the way in which security functionality is being commoditised. Also predicting a shake-up in the IT security business, and in the NAC sector in particular, is The 451 Group, a US-headquartered technology industry analyst company. The 451 Group’s ‘Network Access Control: 2008 is a do-or-die year’ analysis published last month forecast that the next 12 months would bring tremendous changes to what has been a slow-moving market for NAC products. “The original value proposition behind NAC has changed, and the ground beneath more than one NAC pure play is starting to give way,” reasons Paul Roberts, senior analyst, Enterprise Security at The 451 Group and co-author of the report. “2008 is do-or-die for NAC pure-play firms, as major vendors fine-tune their NAC offerings and enterprises finally commit substantive budgets to NAC deployments.” “With profitability still elusive for almost every NAC pure play, the next 12 months will see overextended NAC start-ups forced to find a willing suitor or fold,” adds Roberts. “More nimble NAC vendors may still feel the need to pivot and try to capture new markets.” John Williamson |
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