Dell ups security on PCs

Dell has announced new security capabilities for its commercial PC portfolio and claims it now offers the most secure commercial PCs on the market.

Dell offers comprehensive encryption, advanced authentication, and good malware prevention from a single source with Dell Data Protection (DDP) solutions. DDP | Encryption provides what it says is the most comprehensive data protection in a single solution suite — now with Microsoft 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. Additionally, Dell unveiled DDP | Protected Workspace, a sophisticated new tool powered by Invincea to protect employees and their data from the latest malware attacks in real time.

It’s critical for organisations of all sizes to safeguard intellectual property, customer data and employee information. The theft of a laptop or loss of a USB key can result in thousands of dollars in lost revenue and compliance fines. With a growing number of endpoints to protect, the exponential growth of data, and the rise of more sophisticated threats, endpoint security can be difficult to manage. To address these issues, DDP | Encryption protects data at the file level and safeguards data everywhere it goes: on any device, external media and in the cloud. And it’s designed to provide this protection without disrupting end user productivity or collaboration.

‚”IT decision makers are facing the increasingly difficult challenge of balancing protecting company data and ensuring compliance while enabling end-user productivity, ‚” said Boitumelo Kgnore, Dell South Africa’s client product marketing manager. ‚”To address this challenge Dell is providing the most secure–and with unique Intel v-Pro technology–the most manageable commercial PCs that enable deep hardware protection and authentication, a unique file-level encryption solution 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.‚”

DDP | E simplifies the management of endpoint security with a centralised remote management console and encryption that won’t interfere with existing IT processes, such as patch management. And now, with Dell’s new authentication software Dell Data Protection| Security Tools IT managers can centrally manage both their encryption and authentication policies using the same DDP console. Dell offers the broadest range of fully-integrated advanced authentication options, including fingerprint, smart card and contactless smart card readers and Dell ControlVault for secure hardware credential processing. DDP | Security Tools ships on every Dell commercial endpoint to enable these authentication options.

Dell Data Protection |Protected Workspace

DDP| Protected Workspace, the newest addition to the DDP solutions portfolio, utilises a sophisticated new approach to malware prevention to protect data and users from targeted attacks. Powered by Invincea, the technology was born out of a DARPA funded project for advanced endpoint protection and addresses cyber-attacks such as spear-phishing, watering hole attacks, drive-by downloads, poisoned search engine results and more threats that target end users.

‚”Each time an employee accesses the Internet or opens an e-mail attachment, they run the risk of becoming the unwitting accomplice to a data breach,‚” said Anup Ghosh, CEO and founder, Invincea. ‚”We are pleased to partner with Dell to deliver DDP|Protected Workspace and offer a proactive approach to protect against the aggressive attacks every user faces on a daily basis. This agreement puts Invincea’s unique capability to contain, capture and analyse zero-day attacks into the hands of global enterprises, small and medium businesses and individuals – giving them the ability to defend against targeted attacks at the point of attack, and restoring confidence that their organisations are protected.‚”

DDP | Protected Workspace helps protect users against all types of cyber-attacks even Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) and zero-day exploits by placing them in a protected environment any time they go to the Internet or encounter untrusted files within email. As an added benefit, DDP | Protected Workspace is completely unobtrusive to users so their everyday workflow is uninterrupted.

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

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