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Dell has announced new security technologies that provide threat detection and prevention for traditional endpoints as well as cloud client computing.
Dell Data Protection Threat Defense is an entirely new product, though it has its roots in some existing Dell technologies, according to Brett Hansen, executive director of Data Security Solutions at Dell.
“The underlying detection and prevention technology is based on the technology behind the advanced threat prevention component of the Dell Data Protection Endpoint Security Suite Enterprise solution,” Hansen told eWEEK. “It’s an addition to our portfolio for smaller organizations that are looking to deploy an easy-to-deploy and manage advanced threat prevention solution.”
Dell Data Protection Endpoint Security Suite Enterprise provides businesses with endpoint security that integrates authentication, encryption and advanced threat protection into one single management plane, according to Hansen. In contrast, Dell Data Protection Threat Defense is a stand-alone advanced threat prevention solution that was specifically developed to help small and medium-size businesses prevent the latest malware threats from executing on the endpoints.
From a deployment perspective, Hansen said Threat Defense is locally operated at each endpoint for offline protection, but it is centrally deployed from a management console. End users do not need to deploy it themselves. According to Dell, Threat Defense only consumes between 1 percent and 3 percent of a system’s CPU resources, providing a relatively lightweight footprint on a user’s system.
“In fact, they never even know it is there; it runs transparent to the end user with no performance drains on the PC,” Hansen said.
Dell is positioning the Threat Defense technology as a competitive alternative to a traditional antivirus approach that tends to rely on malware signatures. The Threat Defense technology is based on machine learning, he said.
“A local agent evaluates code prior to execution and, based upon algorithmic modeling, identifies the executables as good or bad,” Hansen said. “As the approach looks at millions of factors of the code itself, it cannot be duped by malware variations.”
Hansen added that Dell’s own testing has found that Threat Defense stops 99 percent of malware and advanced persistent threats from executing, including zero-day attacks. In his view, the efficacy of Threat Defense is far above the average 50 percent efficacy rating of many traditional antivirus solutions that rely on signatures.
“It replaces the need for a traditional antivirus solution,” he said. “Customers can choose to deploy the solution in unison with traditional antivirus/anti-malware, but it is not necessary.”
Beyond just deploying security technology for regular endpoints, Dell is also extending its Threat Defense approach to include thin-client computing. Hansen noted that Dell Data Protection Threat Defense will run heterogeneously across traditional Windows PCs, Mac OS X devices, Windows Server and Windows-based thin-client solutions to provide businesses with an easy-to-manage solution that protects users across these multiple devices found in modern workplaces.
With the new Dell Data Protection Threat Defense product, Dell is taking specific aim at preventing attacks, rather than focusing on remediation.
“We believe that prevention is the key,” Hansen said. “It’s no longer a situation where you have to constantly run scans to find a malware problem and then quarantine it. This solution blocks the malware prior to execution.”
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.