Johannesburg, 22 May 2018
Local managed detection and response (MDR) vendor, Nclose, will be demonstrating the capabilities of its ForeScout CounterACT offering at ITWeb's Security Summit, taking place this week. Nclose founder and Business Development Director, Stephen Osler, says the ability to see devices, control them and orchestrate system-wide threat response across your wired and wireless network without agents is a vital defence mechanism for today's online world.
More devices
Modern enterprise networks have to accommodate a growing variety of guest devices including mobile, IoT, BYOD, Cloud and even virtualized components, sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands. Yet, it's no longer sustainable to install additional agent software on each one individually, especially if remote branches exist. Without this capability, it's impossible to ensure that they meet the security standards required by an organisation before being allowed access to the network's services and information. "So every device that connects is a potential entry point for an attack," states Osler.
Agentless technology
Nclose identified US based ForeScout's CounterACT as the best solution to this problem and promptly partnered with the vendor. The product and its supporting management software provides unprecedented visibility of connected devices and threat detection without having to install a permanent agent on each.
It integrates with over 70 different security vendors and can automatically identify, profile and classify network assets as they connect, as well as quarantine any that are compromised or non-compliant. An API also enables integration with unsupported vendors. ForeScout's customers report being able to identify up to 60% more devices than with previous solutions. Further, it builds an inventory of devices that connected in the past and collects a rich set of data by which both asset state and behaviour can be monitored, constrained and controlled while logged in. It also provides threat alerts, network status reporting and analytics.
Says Osler: "Apart from software agents, traditional network access control solutions often require upgrades to networking equipment or other components. This proves burdensome to our customers. Our goal is to provide an easy-to-deploy platform that manages dynamically-shaped networks as they evolve."
Automated remediation
"Where CounterACT shines is in its ability assess the posture of an endpoint and to apply automated remediation to problems on the spot and without human intervention," reports Osler. Devices that are non-compliant or compromised are quarantined while the system takes corrective action, like updating security settings, applying software patches, updating virus patterns, or even switching on virus software that has been deactivated.
Financial industry
Osler reports that Nclose's customers in the financial industry are particularly attracted to CounterACT's features. "The system effectively provides a plug-and-play solution to companies bound by good governance and data protection, but which must welcome device-based transactions as part of their business model. This fact and its ease of agentless deployment have ensured that our financial customers have enjoyed successful implementations."
Presentation
Interested parties will be able to see ForeScout CounterACT in action at the Nclose stand when they attend the ITWeb Security Summit. An Nclose technical expert will also be speaking at the event about the latest developments in information security with an emphasis on Managed Detection and Response.
ITWeb Security Summit 2018
The ITWeb Security Summit is southern Africa's definitive conference and expo for information security, IT and business professionals. This year, over 70 expert speakers will deliver key insights across seven tracks, including workshops and training courses during the expanded five-day event. The ITWeb Security Summit will be staged at Vodacom World, Midrand, from 22 to 23 May 2018; and CTICC Cape Town on 29 May 2018. Focused and interactive workshops, as well as in-depth training courses will be run in the days around the main conference and exhibition.
For more information, go to www.securitysummit.co.za
For information on Security Summit Cape Town, go to http://v2.itweb.co.za/event/itweb/security-summit-ct-2018
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