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Third Brigade Wants In On The Virtualization Security Conversation

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There’s lots of conversation going on about virtualization and security (e.g. InformationWeek’s take), and now Third Brigade is anxious to be included in the conversation. The company issued a press release today with a presentation of their new approach to virtualized security.

Third Brigade

Third Brigade announced a new licensing model designed to address the accelerated adoption of virtual environments and help customers achieve the lowest total cost of ownership for virtualization security. Third Brigade licensing now allows for an unlimited number of virtual machines to be protected per physical server. The company also introduced a new, coordinated approach to intrusion defense for virtualized environments that will deliver better data protection than can be achieved by virtual security appliances.

When asked why Third Brigade’s approach to virtualization security is better, Wael Mohamed, President and CEO, Third Brigade said:

“The biggest threat left exposed by omitting virtual machine-based security, or relying solely on virtual security appliances, is the potential for one compromised virtual machine to be used to launch an attack against another virtual machine. An appliance or gateway model can’t see, and prevent, the malicious traffic between the VMs; Third Brigade can.” Mr. Mohamed continued, “We also believe sophisticated security coordination will be required between a security agent on a virtual machine and a security agent leveraging the VMsafe APIs, when they are available. We have created an attractive licensing model that will enable customers to take advantage of these advanced features.”

The new licensing model helps accelerate mission critical virtual deployments and removes any barriers to delivering best-of-breed security capabilities to every VM by allowing an unlimited number of VMs to be protected per physical server. For customers that are moving to, or have mixed physical and virtual environments, Third Brigade licenses are portable as a server is transitioned from the physical to virtual world. Pricing is also available for individual virtual machine instances for enterprises that have unique security requirements.

[Source: press release]

Route1 Offers Identity Assurance, Security For Desktop Virtualization

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Route1, a security and identity management company, today reported the success of its TruOFFICE Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution, which it says answers the call from enterprise and government organizations for secure, remote desktop management.

TruOFFICE VDI, powered by Route1’s patented identity assurance and management technology, integrates directly into traditional desktop virtualization solutions to offer an unparalleled level of security.

Unlike other offerings that authenticate only against a remote computer or device, Route1 utilizes multiple verifications to guarantee a specific individual’s identity.

Route1’s unique, integrated secure remote access solution offers many benefits, including the following:

– Keeps files within enterprise firewalls – data is not moved outside the network.
– Authenticates the individual user’s identity using multiple factors.
– Offers remote users identical access that they have at their physical office; they are actually working on their virtual or physical office computer in real time.
– Protects against man-in-the-middle attacks and malware.
– Requires no software installation on the remote PC; any internet-enabled PC can be used.
– Leaves no footprint on the remote PC; no files are transferred, leaving nothing on the remote device.
– Integrates seamlessly into existing IT infrastructure, requiring no additional servers or network upgrades or configuration changes.
– Offers very quick installation on the host computer, supported by a highly regarded helpdesk.

Security Virtualization Startup Raises $9.2 Million Series A

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Bromium, emerging from stealth mode to develop technology in the areas of virtualization and security, has announced it has closed a $9.2 million series A round of funding with Andreessen Horowitz, Ignition Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Founded by Gaurav Banga, Simon Crosby and Ian Pratt, Bromium is focused on the delivery of infrastructure solutions that permit enterprises to safely embrace two major trends in IT: consumerization and cloud computing.

The Bromium Board of Directors is drawn from business leaders and technologists with extensive experience in infrastructure software, virtualization and security: Peter Levine, venture partner at Andreessen Horowitz; Frank Artale, managing director at Ignition Ventures; and George Kurtz, worldwide CTO and executive vice president at McAfee. Bromium has already attracted top engineering talent from Microsoft, VMware, Oracle, McAfee and NVIDIA.

Prior to founding Bromium, CEO Gaurav Banga was CTO and SVP, Engineering at Phoenix Technologies. Simon Crosby (co-founder and CTO) joins Bromium from Citrix, where he was CTO of the Data Center & Cloud Division. He joined Citrix through the acquisition of XenSource in 2007, which he also co-founded and led as CTO.

Ian Pratt (co-founder and SVP Products) is the chairman of Xen.org and was co-founder of XenSource. Prior to Bromium, he served as vice president of advanced products in the Virtualization and Management Division at Citrix.

Virtual Machine Company’s Virtualization Appliance Embeds Check Point VPN-1 VETM Security

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The Virtual Machine Company has begun offering Check Point Software Technologies VPN-1 VE security as an option on its pre-configured Virtualization Appliances.

This is a new development that, the company believes, overcomes the last remaining barrier to widespread adoption of virtualization of enterprise-wide, tier-one computing.

The Virtual Machine Companys high performance virtualization appliances can now be pre-secured as well as being pre-configured and fully-supported.

Until now, virtualization security has tended to flounder in muddy waters between product delivery and security specialisms.

Security value added resellers (VARs) have been healthily skeptical of virtualization, avoiding mainstream involvement. Virtualization VARs, meanwhile, have been ambivalent about security, either not fully addressing it or inappropriately patching it into existing security infrastructure.

HP Bolsters Client Virtualization Products to Improve Security and Usability

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HP today expanded its client virtualization offerings for businesses to help reduce the costs and complexity of client virtualization while improving the user experience.

The new offerings, announced at Citrix Synergy 2010, include:

  • The HP 4320t Mobile Thin Client is designed to meet the security and reliability needs of remote and mobile workers.
  • HP’s desk-based thin client line now features expanded multimedia capabilities.
  • HP has worked with Citrix to develop new virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) reference architectures for XenDesktop and XenServer that help reduce the threat of potential data loss or theft, lower the complexity and cost of desktop management, and provide end-users with the functionality of a stand-alone desktop.
  • The HP Compaq Elite 8000 Business Desktop and HP EliteBook 8440p Notebook PC are the first Citrix Ready platforms expected to support the recently announced Citrix XenClient hypervisor technology. Citrix XenClient support provides the power to deliver the most demanding business applications, while offering the protection of a secure, centrally managed virtual machine for business customers.

As desktop virtualization adoption accelerates, there is an increasing demand for reliable mobile thin clients for remote users.

The new HP 4320t Mobile Thin Client enables secure access to server-based virtual or blade PC computing solutions while providing the mobility of a reliable notebook PC. Users store data on a secure, centralized server – rather than on an internal hard drive – ensuring data is protected in the event a thin client is lost or stolen.

Adding to HP’s broad client virtualization portfolio of thin clients, VDI and blade client hardware, the 4.3-pound HP 4320t features a brushed-aluminum metal finish for refined simplicity and durability with a clean appearance. Its sleek design includes a spill-resistant keyboard and integrated touchpad. Additional features include:

  • Low-profile, 13.3-inch diagonal LED-backlit 16:9 high-definition (HD) display for improved brightness, contrast and clarity
  • HDMI port for connections directly to HD displays
  • Flexible battery options include 6-cell Li-Ion battery for lighter weight or the HP 9-cell Li-Ion Primary Battery for extended battery life
  • Preinstalled Windows® Embedded Standard, File Based Write Filter and Enhanced Write Filter, and HP Virtual Client Essentials deliver greater ease of use for IT staff and mobile professionals
  • Enhanced Write Filter (EWF) helps prevent undesired writes to solid-state modules such as application installations and downloads
  • USB storage security options provide automated administrator control over USB attached memory device read/write access

The HP 4320t helps reduce the workload of IT staff with manageability features such as HP ThinState tools, HP Device Manager and preinstalled Altiris Deployment Solution software. Extensive integrated wireless technologies, such as WLAN and LAN, help mobile workers stay productive with ease.

Enhanced thin client multimedia experiences at the desktop

From corporate training to YouTube, Adobe® Flash-based video is abundant in business today. Yet Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) 6, one of the most common VDI protocols used by VMware View and Microsoft® Remote Desktop Services environments, does not natively support Flash. The new HP RDP Enhancements for Adobe Flash Redirection decodes and plays embedded Flash, enabling customers to enjoy enhanced productivity and communication benefits.

Available for HP Flexible and Performance series thin clients, HP RDP Enhancements for Adobe Flash Redirection decodes Flash media by taking advantage of client processors rather than server processors, thereby lowering the CPU load on the server. This also increases scalability by allowing customers to add more users per server, and lowers the total cost of ownership.

Reducing the complexity of designing a VDI environment

The new HP and Citrix VDI reference architectures provide the functionality of a stand-alone desktop, while enabling unified management of both physical and virtual infrastructures from the same centralized console.

HP’s comprehensive reference architectures are built using the company’s extensive experience testing and simulating real-world workloads to reduce risk, deliver predictable results and accelerate time to deployment for new VDI environments.

The VDI solution developed by HP and Citrix supports more than 1,000 users of XenDesktop 4.0, XenServer 5.5 or Provisioning Server 5.1. It includes HP BladeSystem c-Class or HP ProLiant servers along with Flex-10 virtual connect technology, HP storage and networking, and a choice of HP t5740 or HP t5325 thin clients, depending upon end-user experience requirements.

Each reference architecture can be scaled to meet changing business needs and can be complemented by a full portfolio of HP services including planning, implementation, support and hosting.

Pricing and availability

The HP 4320t Mobile Thin Client is expected to be available in the United States this month.

The HP 4320t Mobile Thin Client will be on display at Citrix Synergy 2010. A hands-on demo of HP’s industry-leading thin clients and software, the new XenClient architecture and other HP client virtualization solutions is available in HP booth 204.

HP RDP Enhancements for Flash Redirection is available today as a downloadable add-on at HP.com for $15.