Many IT executives have adopted a “Cloud First” strategy to reduce computing costs and improve productivity. However, this boost to operational efficiency is closely followed by the discovery of new security and compliance risks.
Security teams are plagued by cloud account compromise. Collaboration teams are agonizing over the open sharing of sensitive data. Compliance teams are concerned with data access by unsanctioned or ungoverned apps. These risks are the reason why cloud access security brokers (CASBs) have become essential to securing cloud services and risen to the top of security teams’ shopping lists.
We believe organizations looking for guidance on CASB offerings turn to Gartner, Inc. for an in-depth evaluation of vendors and their products and services. Proofpoint has made significant investments in our cloud app security solutions and has been named a “ visionary” in the Magic Quadrant for our leading-edge features. We explore four of those features below.
Robust Threat Intelligence
Our focus on threats includes detecting account compromise and malicious files. To detect account compromise, we combine contextual data and behavior analytics with real-time threat intelligence that spans email, social media, mobile devices, cloud apps, and network. For example, we link credential phishing activity to potential account compromise when we detect unusual login activity. In addition, Proofpoint has a dedicated analyst team researching cloud-specific and cloud-native attacks. Our research enables us to regularly update our threat detection capabilities and adapt to new types of attacks.
Identifying Very Attacked People (VAP)
Attackers aren’t aiming for just anyone—they’re looking for targets that offer the biggest returns. At Proofpoint, we characterize these users as Very Attacked People and provide our customers with reports to help them determine who they are. In addition, we prioritize alerts and can enforce multi-factor authentication based on the user’s privileges and their propensity for being attacked to deliver people-centric security.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Remediation
Proofpoint is recognized in the industry for our API-based near real-time DLP detection and remediation. Our industry-proven cloud-based DLP technology allows organizations to assess risks and enable data security measures in a matter of days. By combining DLP detection with information on file sharing permissions, Proofpoint CASB helps you prioritize DLP incidents. For example, you can generate alerts for DLP incidents involving files shared broadly or externally. Proofpoint CASB integrates Proofpoint’s own DLP technology and extends DLP capabilities for inbound/outbound email and on-premises data repositories to cloud apps including cloud storage and mailboxes.
Controlling Third-Party Risks
Finally, Proofpoint CASB focuses on identifying and controlling risky services, including third-party apps. Third-party applications represent a significant compliance risk to organizations concerned with regulations such as GDPR. Granting broad OAuth permissions to these apps can mean full access to email, calendar, contacts, and files. In addition, OAuth access to cloud apps such as Office 365 or G Suite can be abused. Proofpoint CASB automatically discovers, classifies and risk-scores third-party apps providing you a policy-based mechanism for revoking OAuth permissions.
Our vision is to build people-centric security solutions. We are committed to extending our expertise in threat detection and forensics to the CASB market. By integrating with other Proofpoint technologies such as DLP and remote browser isolation, we deliver cost and operational efficiencies as well as better security to customers seeking vendor consolidation. We recommend you use the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Access Security Brokers to gain insight into the capabilities that make Proofpoint a visionary.
For more on Proofpoint cloud app security, visit us here.
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Gartner, "Magic Quadrant for Cloud Access Security Brokers," Craig Lawson and Steve Riley, October 29, 2018
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