Blue Coat Introduces Cloud Service and Web Security Module to Provide Global Comprehensive Web Protection

Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions, today introduced the Blue Coat^® Cloud Service, a scalable Internet-delivered service that leverages proven Blue Coat technology and the company’s collaborative WebPulse™ community of more than 70 million users.

The first subscription module for the Blue Coat Cloud Service, the Web Security Module, brings Blue Coat enterprise-class technology to a broader group of organizations and provides comprehensive, real-time Web protection that can be managed and deployed from anywhere in the world to protect users globally. 

 

As the threat landscape continues to evolve, organizations of all sizes are increasingly exposed to more sophisticated Web-based attacks. According to the RSA CyberCrime Intelligence Service, 90 percent of FORTUNE 500 companies have been infected by the Zeus botnet while Panda Security found that 46 percent of small and medium-sized businesses were infected by Web-based malware in 2010. At the same time, organizations are increasingly distributed. According to Nemertes Research, in 2010, 17 percent of enterprises reported growth in their branch offices and 86 percent said the number of their telecommuters grew. As organizations become more distributed, providing a consistent, easy-to-manage Web security solution can be difficult. 

 

“The combination of rapidly evolving and sophisticated Web threats and an increase in the number of remote workers is straining organizations struggling to secure their employees,” said Chris Christiansen, program vice president for Security Products and Services at IDC. “Security SaaS solutions, that can be deployed from anywhere and cover employees regardless of location, offer agile and unique capabilities for solving these dual problems in an easy-to-manage and cost-effective manner.”

 

To provide companies with an alternative way to deliver Web security to all users, anywhere, the Blue Coat Cloud Service builds upon fundamental Blue Coat security strengths and offers organizations the following benefits:

• Proven Cloud Reliability: Blue Coat has more than six years of production experience with its cloud-based WebPulse service, during which there has never been a significant outage. On a weekly basis, the WebPulse service rates nearly three billion real-time Web requests from a diverse community of more than 70 million users. Additionally, Blue Coat’s team of security experts continually adds new defenses to the service to better identify new and emerging malware and rate Web content. 
• Seamless New Service Offerings: In the future, as new subscription-based security and application acceleration modules are added to the Blue Coat Cloud Service, they will be available to customers without requiring new equipment or software upgrades. 
• Deployment Flexibility: The Blue Coat Cloud Service can be seamlessly deployed within an existing security infrastructure, allowing companies to protect their investments using on-premise appliances, or as a pure cloud service without any additional appliances. A desktop agent ensures that remote and mobile workers are automatically protected regardless of their location.

The Web Security Module for the Blue Coat Cloud Service enables organizations of any size to provide Web security that follows employees from cubicle to home to café to hotel. With the Web Security Module, organizations gain:

• Real-time Web Protection: The Web Security Module utilizes a combination of the Blue Coat WebPulse service and inline malware scanning technology to provide comprehensive Web protection and categorize new and unknown Web content in real time. Using advanced analysis techniques, WebPulse examines the Web ecosystem to identify suspicious and malicious sites, and the discovery of malware automatically protects all users without requiring database, signature or software upgrades. 
• Safe, Controlled Access to Social Networking: The combination of granular social media application controls and flexible policies allows organizations to protect their users from the threats that abound in social media while utilizing features that could be important to the business. For example, an organization could allow access to Facebook, but not allow video or picture uploads. It could also allow employees to use Webmail but not send attachments.
• Dynamic, Location-Aware Web Security: A built-in auto tracking feature dynamically routes Web traffic to the closest Blue Coat data center based on the user’s current geographic location. Application of global policy ensures consistent protection and enforcement for individual employees around the world, even remote workers. With location awareness and global policy, the Blue Coat Cloud Service provides fast, comprehensive, global Web security to protect employees wherever they are.
• Instant Visibility into Web Threats: With the service’s built-in reporting interface, IT administrators can easily see how many threats are attempting to access the network and quickly identify end users that are infected with malware and trying to send sensitive or confidential information to malware servers.

“The rapid evolution of Web-based threats, coupled with a shift in organizational structure, demands a security solution that can respond in real time to protect all users, all the time, anywhere,” said Jim Vogt, senior vice president and general manager of the Cloud Business Unit at Blue Coat Systems. “The Blue Coat Cloud Service does just that, extending the reach of our enterprise-class leading Web security technology to all organizations.”

 

With the Blue Coat Cloud Service, the company is extending its technology beyond its traditional large enterprise customers to small and medium-sized organizations. The new cloud-delivered service complements the existing Blue Coat portfolio of Web security appliances, including the recently announced ProxyOne appliance, and lets organizations choose the deployment option that works best for their business requirements.

http://www.bluecoat.com/news/pr/5143