Cloud Computing Security: Emerging Vendor Round-Up

Cloud computing security is a hot topic these days. Last week, we covered 7 emerging cloud security vendors who are doing their best to make cloud computing every bit as secure – if not more so – than on-premise computing.

Last week’s story featured the likes of Okta, SecureAuth and Symplified. In other words, it was heavy on identity management and access controls – two of the most critical components of secure cloud computing.

This week, we look at virtualization security, security for e-commerce transactions, cloud-based data loss protection and more. Here are 7 more cloud security up-and-comers:

1. Awareness Technologies

What Problem Do they Solve? With high-profile security breaches, such as those that hit TJX, the VA, the FAA, the DoD, and, well, this list could go on and on, data-loss protection is a critical issue for all organizations. It’s especially an issue for those that must comply with regulations like PCI-DSS, FISMA and HIPPA.

The problem with current Data Loss Protection (DLP) solutions, according to Brad Miller, CEO of Awareness Tech, is that they sit within the corporate network and therefore act in a manner similar to traditional perimeter security. They work well when integrated with Outlook or when blocking USB ports on laptops.

When users are disconnected from the corporate network, when they access their own personal web-based email accounts or when they are using an array of mobile devices, traditional DLP doesn’t keep up.

In other words, Awareness Tech argues that traditional DLP (“traditional” may be a stretch since this is still a fairly new space) is not up to snuff when it comes to cloud computing and mobility.

What they Do: Awareness Tech focuses on insider security risks through its InterGuard suite of products that offer DLP, web filtering, employee monitoring, mobile monitoring and mobile device recovery, remote data retrieval and wiping, and remote tracking (for both recovery and forensic purposes).

Why they’re an up-and-comer? InterGuard is a cloud-based solution designed to bolster security in a world increasingly moving to the cloud and to mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. The company is backed by $6 million in VC and private funding and is both revenue and cash-flow positive.

One of key features of the InterGuard suite is that when a device is lost or stolen, InterGuard will track what’s happening on the device. In industries rife with corporate espionage and IP theft, if a thief logs into an email account, you’ll have a record of it. If the person signs into Facebook or some other social networking site, you’ll know who they are. And, of course, with built-in geolocation, you’ll be able to alert the authorities to track them down and recover the device.

Customers include NASA, the Department of Justice, Allstate, IBM and Wells Fargo.

2. HyTrust

What Problem Do they Solve? Within virtualized environments, maintaining security without hindering end user accessibility can seem like an uphill battle. Too often, one is sacrificed for the other – and security is what is most often sacrificed. Gartner studies report that up to 60% of virtualization environments are less secure than their physical counterparts, leading the enterprise to be understandably apprehensive when it comes to virtualization and cloud computing.

Moreover, a majority of breaches are caused by simple misconfigurations or inappropriate user privileges. In a virtual environment, a single misconfiguration, if exploited, could lead to a major incident.

What they Do: Instead of focusing only on the security requirements of VM operating systems, HyTrust addresses security, multi-tenancy and compliance for both cloud and virtual environments. The HyTrust virtual appliance provides access control, policy enforcement, and audit-quality logging for vSphere, Nexus and UCS.

Why they’re an up-and-comer? HyTrust addresses a key vulnerability in an increasingly large market. Without policy enforcement and access control, virtual and cloud environments pose serious risks. The company is backed by $16 million in funding from Cisco Systems, Granite Ventures, Trident Capital and Epic Ventures. Customers include Pepsi, AMD, GEICO, State of Michigan, US Navy, Netflix, and Hudson News.