InfoSec Conference the stage for updated products from Imperva, GuardianEdge

ORLANDO, Fla. -- With the InfoSec Conference here as the backdrop, security vendors Imperva and GuardianEdge Technologies each showcased new versions of their products for enterprise security.

To its SecureSphere appliance for database-security monitoring, Imperva has added a way to track modification to external database objects, including configurations, executables and registry keys. Previously, SecureSphere was limited to tracking access by users to content in databases that include those from IBM, Oracle, Microsoft and Sybase.

“SecureSphere now has the ability to track the configuration of files relevant to database security,” said Amichai Shulman, Imperva’s chief technology officer. This added functionality is contained in what’s called the Application Defense Center Change Management Module. Shulman noted that the change-control module can track changes, identity unauthorized exceptions and maintain audit-ready records of database modifications.

GuardianEdge Technologies, which makes the Hard Disk Encryption software for endpoint protection, also make a product announcement at InfoSec, announcing Guardian Removable Storage Encryption and GuardianEdge Device Control. The three products have been bundled into one Windows-based software package called the GuardianEdge Data Protection Platform that starts at $150 per seat.

GuardianEdge Hard Disk Encryption provides Windows-based full-disk encryption and user authentication to guard data in the event of loss or theft of a computer. GuardianEdge Removable Storage Encryption is used for automating file encryption of data transferred between the desktop or laptop to removable storage devices, such as USB thumb drives and iPods. GuardianEdge Device Control lets administrators set policy-based access controls for ports and devices.

All three software components are managed via a common console.

Fenwick & West, a law firm in Mountain View, Calif., uses the GuardianEdge Hard Disk Encryption software on the mobile laptops used by about 200 attorneys, says Oliver Rebollido, the firm’s network engineer.

“The user doesn’t even know the file is encrypted,” says Rebollido, noting that the encryption process is transparent to authorized laptop users. But if the laptop were lost or stolen, unauthorized users would not be able to view the laptop’s contents.

“We don’t want to make the front page,” says Rebollido, adding the volume of news stories about loss of laptops, especially at the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, was one factor in prompting the law firm to deploy laptop encryption over the past four months.

Rebollido added Fenwick & West will be looking at deploying the GuardianEdge Data Protection Platform in the future. “This would be a way to control portable devices, such as USBs,” Robollido says. “We hear stories about people walking into offices, sticking a USB device in a computer, and the person doesn’t even know the data was hijacked.”