Dell Tightens Corporate Security With Protected Workplace

“Traditional security approaches are failing to solve the big challenges, because they are based on legacy approaches,” Brett Hansen, Dell’s executive director of end user computing, told eWEEK. “We believe that security should start at the end-point purchase. As you are buying your next device, you should be thinking about buying security.”

Because of the fast advancement of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend in the workplace, enterprises are exasperated about what to do to keep business information safe amid the plethora of devices employees use on a daily basis – most of which are not using corporate networks.

“Among the companies that I speak to, there’s an admission that they’re not doing a good job (in overall device security), and that they have vulnerabilities; there’s also a sense of despair and of ‘I don’t know what to do,’ ” Hansen said. “There’s a lot of security elements out there, they’re confusing, they don’t fully understand this space; they’re asking, ‘What do I need?’ ”

To this end, Dell has brought forth its all-new security scheme, using Invincia as the touch point.

“End users, by their nature, do silly things. We click on links we shouldn’t, open attachments we shouldn’t, lose things, leave things where they shouldn’t be,” Hansen said. “Ultimately, this creates vulnerabilities, which hackers know they can exploit. The bad guys are increasingly focused on end users for those reasons.”

Subscription Options

A one-year subscription to DDP Protected Workspace software is included on Dell Precision, Latitude and OptiPlex PCs, Hansen said. Once the application is activated, it begins moving users’ browsers, PDF readers and the Microsoft Office suite into a contained, virtual environment where it automatically identifies malware attacks in real time, based on behaviours and actions inside the environment and away from the host operating system.

Dell Data Protection Encryption is packaged in a single suite. It features Windows 8 support and auto deployment and provisioning of users when purchased factory-installed on Dell Precision workstations, OptiPlex desktops, and Latitude laptops and tablets.

Dell commercial PCs that use second-generation Intel v-Pro chips will feature file-level encryption that protects data on the client, on remote media, on mobile devices and in the cloud and virtualised container that protects against zero-day threats, Hansen said.

The company’s new authentication software, DDP Security Tools, enables IT managers to centrally manage both their encryption and authentication policies on the same console. Authentication options include fingerprint, smart card and contactless smart card readers.

DDP Security Tools now ships on every Dell commercial PC.

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Originally published on eWeek.