The Convergence of Security and Management
Can you have one without the other?

The nature of security is evolving to keep up with an ever changing threat landscape. As most industries are in the grips of technological transformation fuelled by the cloud, mobility and, to some extent Big Data, the evolution of IT security is not exempt and must also respond to profound change.

As expenditure and dependency on hardware and software increases, IT systems are becoming more heterogeneous, disperse and complex to manage. Simply from a volume perspective, IT professionals now face the challenge of managing multiple sites, various operating systems and multiple devices per user. Each additional device adds to a company's efficiency but also creates an additional vulnerability.

When it comes to mobile, in the case of medium sized companies, we can clearly see how this problem is even more accentuated. As was mentioned in the Gartner report The Six Pain Points of Managing Mobile Devices for Small or Midsize Businesses (Rob Smith et al, March 2014), SMBs have many of the same challenges managing mobile devices as large enterprises; however, due to limited skills and resources, their solutions to these problems are often less complex and need to be easier to manage.

All of this complexity stretches tech teams to the limit and creates additional weak links in the security armor.

For instance, one of the problems in protecting this new technological mash-up is caused by a false sense of security in the belief that some devices are not vulnerable, such as MAC and /or Linux devices. This misconception leaves an inviting open door for malware (including Windows malware) to enter unchallenged and take advantage of those weaker links.

With malware numbers breaking all records, security vendors can no longer rely solely on on-premise, signature file based solutions to protect their customers IT systems. In addition to reduced detection capacity, as the malware volumes increase, such solutions leave heavier foot prints on networks.

Security vendors now look towards the cloud and the immense processing power of big data to respond to the vast and ever growing threat while transferring the workload from the network / device to the cloud. This has, in part, enabled some security vendors to get a strong grip on the new threat landscape while allowing companies to focus on their businesses and not on security management. A great step in the right direction but, as we mentioned, this only covers part of the problem.

Systems and software vulnerabilities are now the cause of the great majority of infections to such an extent that savvy IT managers know that just focusing on best of breed AVs and Firewalls, even those in the cloud, is no longer a full response to an ever growing problem.

Over 90% of infections are caused by non-patched vulnerabilities, typically in third party software such as Java, Adobe, Flash etc.

The majority of on-premise solutions depend on signature files that generally update every 24 hours in some cases less but clearly insufficient for the daily rate of 230,000 new malware that appear on the Internet. Having a cloud based solution like Panda Security's Fusion means that everything is constantly up to date, in real time. It provides your company with an enterprise class real time and proactive endpoint protection, thanks to the Collective Intelligence gathered across multiple platforms, ensuring the maximum detection rates of malware, even for new zero-day vulnerabilities.

Another of our Fusion customers from South Africa says: "We are a company that employs over 300 people and we work with delicate information on a daily basis. We needed a solution that allowed us to protect the content that we deal with, as well as manage employees' devices from a remote location, while remaining unobtrusive. Fast and effective off-premises remote access was one of the most appealing features that Panda offered."

As systems and application vulnerabilities become ever more critical, a logical convergence of device security and device management is taking place. Security goes beyond the traditional AV and FW approach and takesoon a much broader scope which begins with visibility and ends with enforced policies. This new scope must also contemplate remediation for it to be considered complete and needs to be applicable across all IT systems with zero exceptions.

Up to some time ago (PC era), in LAN based networks with a vast majority of windows desktops and servers with few exceptions, managing most aspects of systems and software updates was doable although very time consuming. Now, in the Post PC era, the exception is the rule but the challenge is the same; IT managers, to reduce the overall security threat, MUST be capable of managing every device regardless of its location. Put into tangible terms: they must guarantee permanent device visibility, guarantee that devices are up to date, fully patched and optimized. And if something goes wrong, there must be mechanisms in place to respond rapidly and effectively.

Unfortunately in today's companies just having permanent visibility of dispersed and heterogeneous environments is far from the norm. Microsoft estimates that only 40% of enterprises have any real credible device management in place.

Fragmented environments with multiple device types can lead to the implementation of quick fixes and fragmented solutions; one solution for software updates, one for security, one for remote support, MDM, etc. Complexity is inherent in the problem, various devices per user, various sites, BYOD etc. However, responding to the problem with fragmented solutions only creates a vicious circle where complexity is increased with each additional solution that is implemented.

To be able to get the problem under control and gain new levels of efficiency with the same team members the solution must be centralized. All devices, all IT tasks from one centralized solution for the entire IT team, anywhere, anytime. And the solution you chose must have a quick route to value, be easy to implement, and manage with a near zero learning curve, a solution that simplifies the complexity of today's IT systems.

Panda Cloud Fusion is about simplifying and centralizing cloud security, management and support. Panda Security has a complete approach to systems management in that every device counts; Regardless of if it is a Windows XP desktop, a Linux Sever, a MAC book or a tablet /Smartphone, if it is on or off the LAN, you can manage, secure and support them all from one centralized console.

Centralized auditing means IT administrators can have permanent visibility of their entire IT systems from one console, including mobiles and smartphones, and this possibility saves both time and money to our customers.

The out of the box patch management and software distribution functionalities ensure systems are patched and optimized which in turn reduces the threat of attack via vulnerabilities.

Non-intrusive remote support completes the offering by enabling technicians to run extensive problem diagnostics and implement solutions in the background while end users continue to use their systems.

In addition to optimizing and securing all your devices Panda Cloud Fusion also empowers IT professionals to gain greater efficiencies by automating the majority of common IT tasks via an easy to use rich feature set. Automation, such as systems monitoring with predefined responses and issue tracking via support tickets, enable IT professionals to focus on greater value added projects while guaranteeing consistent service quality.

This convergence between Security and Management is one of the reasons for being perceived as pioneers, along with our malware detection capabilities. Panda Security has been recognized as a Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms, released in December 2014.

Protect your devices wherever they are.
Manage them efficiently across all platforms.
Support all users, manage incidents and fix problems easily and quickly.

A single place to meet all your security and management needs.
Accessible from anywhere without a VPN.
No need for additional IT infrastructure or system maintenance costs.

Source: Panda Security