Photo: 13_Phunkod – shutterstock.com
Despite virus protection, firewall and strict user account policy, malware in the networks still leads to high damage. A webcast of the Computerwoche shows how IT decision-makers can prevent this. Jochen Köhler, Sales Director Security Solutions at HP, talks about using HP Sure Click Enterprise. Specialist journalist Arne Arnold from Computerwoche moderates the webcast and states with regard to the optimistic title of the program: “However, the threat is increasing!”
A survey among the participants also shows that almost one in five (18 percent) had a malware incident in the past six months, just as many in the past twelve months. Köhler sums up the reason for this straight away: it is due to the detection technology. “The problem is that many companies don’t even realize they have infections,” he observes. A virus can go undetected for up to two years, and data flows away unnoticed all the time.
How does HP implement comprehensive protection? With application isolation, says Köhler. It is an invention of bromium, HP bought the security specialist at the end of last year. Based on microvirtualization, the solution can isolate SureClick infections.
Köhler uses an email to show what this looks like in practice. He can edit and save attachments. The end user does not even notice that these are “trapped” in a micro VM all the time. When he opens a PDF, it loads in the browser, Adobe also opens in a micro VM. “The user does not need to take a detour, everything works automatically,” says Köhler. That means: users can safely open email attachments and links. The solution creates security on the client – without a negative user experience.
“What are the limitations of the solution?” Moderator Arnold wants to know. The HP manager added: “If you isolate, you separate. Take our web conference: the site has to be trusted first, you have to define exceptions.” This is important now that a lot of communication tools are used. He describes the basic idea behind SureClick as follows: “I do not find out whether you are good or bad, but assume that you are good – nevertheless we let you run in the container for the duration of the processing.” This also applies to files from the Dropbox or USB stick, for example. As long as a file is stored somewhere, it is still scanned by the virus scanner. But this only reacts to known malicious code, so that a temporal “vulnerability window” arises. Köhler compares SureClick with an airbag in a car. “You still have the belt!”
The solution is available as a simple or as an enterprise version. HP Sure Controller is a managed solution, with either HP in the cloud or the customer managing it. “The controller provides an autopsy report, but not a body,” Köhler illustrates the function. Keyword cloud: as another survey shows, 65 percent of webcast participants allow their security solution to communicate with the cloud under certain conditions. 22 percent strictly reject this. On the other hand, thirteen percent always allow it. HP provides the Threat Cloud to customers if desired.
“But where are the limits of SureClick?” Arnold inquires. That is quickly answered: the solution only protects against what comes in from outside. “The task is to protect the Windows workstation PC from external malware,” says Köhler. SureClick does not help against company insiders with evil intentions. Finally, the webcast participants also have questions. “Do you need HP computers?” Someone wants to know. Köhler smiles: “No. But the Windows 10 operating system with eight GB of memory.” In general, the PCs should “not be older than five years,” said the expert. SSD would be “nice, but is not a mandatory requirement”.
Another question: “What happens if I share the file with someone who doesn’t have SureClick?” Köhler makes it clear: “We do not change the files themselves. The virus scanner can strike!”
Watch the webcast here