By Cassandra Balentine
Imperva, Inc. provides security solutions for business-critical data and applications in the cloud and on premises. Founded in 2002, the public company has more than 750 employees. It is headquartered in Redwood Shores, CA, with additional presence in Israel.
The company ranks number 244 in the upcoming 2015 Software 500 ranking, with an annual revenue of $164.01 million in its 2014 fiscal year. The company reports to have logged more than $44.8 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2015.
Leak Protection
Imperva recently announced the release of its Skyfence Cloud Gateway v4.5 with Data Leak Prevention (DLP), a cloud security capability designed to enable customers to control sensitive and regulated data stored in the cloud in real time.
“Skyfence is a cloud access security broker that enables visibility and control over sanctioned and unsanctioned cloud applications to enable their safe and productive use,” explains Ofer Hendler, co-founder/GM, Skyfence, Imperva.
He notes that with Skyfence, organizations can discover software as a service applications, assess related risks, and enforce controls to prevent account-centric threats, meet compliance requirements, and protect data in the cloud.
“With Imperva Skyfence Cloud Gateway v4 with DLP, we’ve added a first-of-its-kind capability to control the flow of critical data stored in the cloud, in real time,” says Hendler. “Skyfense DLP is a cloud access security broker that prevents regulated or sensitive data from being uploaded to public cloud storage services or downloaded onto unmanaged devices,” he explains.
Skyfence DLP addresses data leaks in file sharing and collaboration tools by identifying business-critical information and blocking attempts to transfer that information to unprotected cloud services. “In short, it stops the data from leaking to the cloud so it won’t leak to criminals,” says Hendler. “And, because Skyfence includes ICAP-based integration with leading DLP solutions, you can leverage existing data protection policies in conjunction with Skyfence to protect your data in the cloud,” he adds.
Skyfense currently supports hundreds of document sharing applications including Box, Dropbox, Office 365, and Google Apps, which facilitate file sharing collaboration among users inside and outside of an organization. Beyond the number of file sharing applications (apps) available, these apps are often accessed from a variety of managed and unmanaged devices, potentially making rapid data proliferation more widespread and harder to control. Additionally, this creates new avenues for sensitive and regulated personally identifiable information (PII), PCI, and HIPPA data to maliciously or unintentionally leak from the organization.
Hendler notes that a differentiating factor for Skyfence is its ability to analyze the content in real time while it is being transferred on the wire, thus full contextual DLP policies are provided. “For example, sensitive files downloaded to unmanaged devices might be blocked, where the same files might be allowed for managed devices,” he adds.
On the Lookout
Most industries have come to embrace cloud-based solutions for the workplace, which means all types of businesses need to consider data leaks in the cloud.
“In terms of who should be most concerned, businesses who deal with personally identifiable PII, PCI, and HIPPA, are heavily regulated and face significant repercussions when they suffer a breach,” says Hendler. “If every business should be thinking about cloud security, financial and healthcare institutions should be doubly concerned about complying,” he warns.
Skyfence DLP functionality is currently available for all current customers of the Skyfense Cloud Audit and Protection and Cloud Security Suite. SW
Sep2015, Software Magazine
