VMware grew its portfolio of security products and capabilities on June 13, with the debut of the TrustPoint for endpoint security as well as new cloud access security broker (CASB) integrations with AirWatch and advances in Workspace ONE.
VMware TrustPoint benefits from Tanium’s endpoint security technology, which VMware is integrating into it. Tanium is a security vendor that to date has raised $262 million in an effort to build a new generation of endpoint defense and management capabilities. It was created by the founders of BigFix, which IBM acquired in 2010.
“VMware TrustPoint combines the speed and scale of Tanium’s endpoint security platform with VMware’s layered OS migration technology to deliver an integrated solution for unified endpoint management and security,” Blake Brannon, vice president of product marketing for end-user computing at VMware, told eWEEK.
TrustPoint will secure both virtual and physical desktops, according to Brannon. It will also protect Windows- and Linux-based laptops and tablets, as well as Apple Macs. The Tanium platform includes multiple capabilities to help organizations manage endpoint security. Brannon noted that initially VMware TrustPoint comes with the Tanium core platform and the Tanium Incident Response and Discover modules. Tanium added Incident Response expertise to its platform in May 2015. The Tanium Discover module enables organizations to find and “discover” unmanaged assets that are on a network.
VMware is also improving its AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) and Workspace ONE platforms with expanded CASB integrations with Blue Coat Systems, CloudLock, Netskope, Palo Alto Networks and Skyhigh Networks. Previously, CASB vendors provided management and security of cloud-based applications, without context of device and user identity, according to Brannon.
“The integration of CASB with VMware Workspace ONE powered by VMware AirWatch and VMware Identity Manager provides a mechanism for organizations to enforce security and access policy in conjunction with device posture and user attributes,” Brannon said.
What that means is that the VMware platforms share information between the products so that the intelligence provided from CASB vendors can be used to influence mobile device and cloud access policies. For example, Brannon said that if anomalous behavior is detected in a cloud application, a remediation policy can be taken within AirWatch and Identity Manager to prevent access to the cloud application. As well, device posture and identity information can be shared with CASB vendors to drive and inform policy decisions and enforcement.
Brannon noted that if a user attempts to access a cloud service from an unmanaged or noncompliant device, the CASB solution can create dynamic policies in the cloud application to limit the exposure of data or limit access to more sensitive functionalities such as sharing and editing of data.
“In addition, we can ensure that all of the traffic taking place between cloud applications and managed devices is routed through our select CASB partners,” Brannon said. “This provides unprecedented visibility for organizations looking to get insights into the level of cloud usage in their organization, both sanctioned and shadow IT.”
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.