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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
Senforce Technologies Introduces First Centrally-Managed, Location-Aware Security Software
Enterprise Mobile Security Manager's Patent-Pending Location-Aware Security Technology Enables IT Managers to Control Mobile Connectivity with Centralized Policies
Sep 29, 2003 -- Senforce Technologies(TM) Inc. today introduced centrally managed security software that enables IT managers to easily create, deploy, monitor and enforce computer security policies to protect invaluable corporate assets stored on mobile computing devices such as notebook and tablet computers. The Senforce Enterprise Mobile Security Manager(TM) (EMSM(TM)) consists of server and client software components that automatically recognize the location of a mobile device and enforce policies specific to the location, including locking down specific network-utilizing applications in areas of extreme sensitivity. Successful beta tests by federal agencies, leading universities, financial institutions and large enterprises have proven EMSM's ability to preserve the productivity benefits of mobile connectivity without compromising sensitive data residing on the mobile professional's computer.
"The growing mobile enterprise requires corporate security and IT managers to define new policies that will determine how mobile workers access their entire corporate network, or external wireless or wired environments," said Allan Thompson, president and chief executive officer of Senforce Technologies. "EMSM allows companies and institutions to unilaterally apply security policies to a global workforce by centrally creating and deploying mobile device security solutions in a highly scalable manner."
Demand Nexus Created by Mobility, Wireless and Security Trends
Enterprises recognize the productivity benefits of a mobile workforce and are encouraging a widespread transition from desktops to notebooks. Research firm Aberdeen group stated that, "Corporate PC planners are already set to buy three notebooks for every seven desktops this year in the United States(1)." WiFi is making it easier for enterprises to connect virtually anywhere. Jupiter Research wrote that, "57 percent of U.S. companies already support 802.11 networks, with an additional 22 percent planning to implement and support this technology in the next 12 months(2)."
The widespread use of mobile devices outside of the protection of enterprise firewalls has created unprecedented vulnerabilities for data residing on mobile devices. Corporate IT professionals and security departments are looking for new solutions to ensure safe computing. EMSM is the first security software available that enables enterprises to centrally manage and enforce security policies with little or no client-side configuration to protect data residing on a mobile device.
"Enterprises recognize the importance of corporate mobility to the bottom line," said John Pescatore, vice president for Internet Security at Gartner. "WiFi presents enterprises with the difficult challenge of integrating mobility into the business culture while protecting the company's assets. Smart IT managers will look for scaleable, managed policy enforcement solutions for mobile clients to meet this challenge."
Superior Security, Proven Technology
Unlike traditional firewall technologies, Senforce EMSM operates as a network driver interface specification (NDIS) intermediate driver to provide security protection from the moment traffic enters the PC. Unsolicited traffic is dropped at the lowest levels of the protocol stack, protecting against protocol-based attacks including unauthorized port scans, distributed denial-of-service attacks and others.
EMSM's NDIS intermediate driver technology is also Microsoft Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) certified and signed for Windows XP(R) and Windows 2000(R), meeting additional rigorous quality standards set forth by Microsoft.
Patent Pending Technologies at the Core of EMSM
EMSM allows IT professionals to centrally administer the creation and distribution of security policies by defining how users communicate in mobile environments. With EMSM, IT managers can determine which hardware users communicate with, which applications users can run, and which wireless network access points (NAPs) they can see and use. EMSM employs multiple patent-pending technologies to provide this level of communication management, including:
-- WhereAware(TM) technology that automatically detects the location of a mobile device as users move across diverse networks and encounter varying degrees of risk. The technology then applies pre-configured security permissions to block access to time-wasting programs and unauthorized programs based on the location of the device.
-- AdapterAware(TM) that controls, by location, which network adapters (by brand and model name) users communicate with to help reduce the "viral deployment" of unauthorized wireless communications technologies in the enterprise.
-- AccessAware(TM) that lets IT managers control what the WLAN adapter "sees" and connects to, providing policy-enforced wireless connection management. AccessAware directly supports and interacts with Microsoft's Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) service that lets Windows(R) XP(R) users only see authorized wireless LAN connection points. The technology prevents the use of "Rogue NAPs" introduced by employees or hackers.
EMSM Advanced Architecture Delivers Management Advantages
Senforce developed a new type of security architecture to power Enterprise Mobile Security Manager and provide IT departments a powerful, scalable policy enforced client security tool that helps secure enterprise mobile data wherever it goes. Senforce EMSM architecture consists of five functional components:
-- Authority Service enables IT managers to leverage existing user and group definitions to provide initial "credentials" for client authentication. Authority Service also monitors user and group changes within the directory (NT Domain, Active Directory, LDAP) and updates the Policy Service.
-- Policy Service enables IT managers to distribute policies to mobile clients based on their credentials. The Policy Service can safely reside either inside or outside the corporate firewall, allowing IT managers to distribute updates to clients regardless of where or how the clients are connected to the Internet or Intranet.
-- Reporting Service allows IT managers to monitor security policy compliance and identify trends across the organization. The Reporting Service gathers and stores security policy and client compliance information, and generates client security history reports that can be viewed through a Web-based interface, with stock reports, or with third party reporting tools such as Crystal Reports, etc.
-- Policy Editor guides IT personnel through the simple steps required to create and deploy group security policies, and provides context-sensitive help and policy creation tips.
-- Mobile Security Client, which resides on the mobile client computer, receives policies from the Policy Service and then enforces the security policy on the mobile client as it moves from location to location.
System Requirements, Price and Availability
Senforce Enterprise Mobile Security Manager server-side hardware requirements include an 800 MHz Pentium III equivalent (or greater) server computer with at least 256MB of RAM, and 5MB of initial hard disk storage to install. Server-side software requirements include Microsoft Windows 2000 Server (with Service Pack 3 installed), Windows 2000 Advanced Server (with Service Pack 3 installed), or Windows 2003 Server; Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Standard or Enterprise Edition (with Service Pack 3 installed); and a certificate obtained from a publicly trusted certificate authority, such as VeriSign.
EMSM's Mobile Security Client and Policy Editor client-side hardware requirements include a 600 MHz Pentium III equivalent (or greater) with at least 128 MB minimum, and 30MB of initial hard disk storage to install. Client-side software requirements include Microsoft Windows 2000 (running Service Pack 2, 3 or 4), or Windows XP (with or without Service Pack 1); Internet Explorer 5.0 or greater on Windows 2000, or Internet Explorer 6.0.28.00 Service Pack 1 for Windows XP; and a certificate obtained from a publicly trusted certificate authority, such as VeriSign.
Pricing for Enterprise Mobile Security Manager varies based on the scale of the deployment, with initial per-seat pricing at $89.99. A variety of scalable maintenance options are also offered. Please direct inquiries to sales@senforce.com.
About Senforce Technologies
Senforce Technologies is the leading developer of location-aware security software for enterprise mobile computing. Senforce's flagship product, Enterprise Mobile Security Manager(TM), allows IT managers to create, deploy, enforce and monitor computer security policies for mobile clients across the enterprise. The company is based in Orem, Utah, with offices in Cupertino, Calif. Senforce Technologies is privately held, and is funded by Rocket Ventures, EsNet Group Ltd., Ridgewood Capital and Panasonic/Matsushita. Information about Senforce Technologies is available on the Web at www.senforce.com.
Senforce, Securing Your Mobile Data, WhereAware, AdapterAware and AccessAware are trademarks of Senforce Technologies Inc. Windows and XP are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Pentium is a trademark of Intel Corp. VeriSign is a mark of VeriSign Inc. Any other trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.
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