Software Security
Okta | October 09, 2023
Okta, Inc. announces Identity Threat Protection with Okta AI, a new product for Okta Workforce Identity Cloud.
It enables security teams and admins to constantly evaluate user risk during active sessions and respond automatically to Identity threats across the entire ecosystem.
Identity Threat Protection enables organizations to mitigate risk with enhanced threat detection and response capabilities.
Okta, Inc., the leading independent Identity partner, has introduced Identity Threat Protection with Okta AI, a revolutionary product within the Okta Workforce Identity Cloud. This innovative solution provides identity-based threat detection and mitigation in real-time. Identity Threat Protection goes beyond initial authentication by employing Okta AI and security infrastructure insights. It assures continuous user risk assessment during active sessions and enables automatic responses to Identity threats across the entire ecosystem.
Organizations are increasingly adopting diverse cybersecurity tools to counter evolving threats. However, this leads to a flood of detailed security data, making it daunting for administrators to set up efficient policies and identify crucial threats. This fragmentation makes it challenging to track the risk of any specific user session over time and requires navigating various consoles.
Okta stands out with its unified Identity deployment, offering a unique ability to evaluate risks across security domains and active user sessions. This innovative strategy solves a crucial business challenge as, according to Gartner, "By 2025, organizations that adopt a continuous adaptive trust strategy will reduce [account takeover] along with other identity risks by 30%..."
President and CDO of Workforce Identity Cloud at Okta, Sagnik Nandy, said,
Organizations need the ability to not only bring together risk insights at the point of login, but also to re-evaluate at any point in a user’s session. Identity Threat Protection extends Okta’s adaptive risk analysis and delivers automatic remediation and response, assisting businesses stop potential threats in real-time.
[Source – Business Wire]
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a vital tool in combating identity-based attacks. However, its effectiveness typically extends only to the login stage. Using shared signals throughout a user's active session, Identity Threat Protection equips organizations with enhanced threat detection and response capabilities, thereby mitigating risk. Initial launch capabilities include:
Continuous Risk Evaluation
Shared Signals Pipeline
Adaptive Actions
CIO at Palo Alto Networks, Meerah Rajavel, said,
Our world-class threat intelligence innovations assist secure enterprises against evolving attack methods. Partnering with Okta’s Identity Threat Protection is a great opportunity to further empower enterprises with security signal sharing, assisting them to better detect changes in user risk across their tech stack.
[Source – Business Wire]
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Software Security
Cisco | September 25, 2023
Cisco and Splunk are joining forces to advance organizations from reactive threat handling to proactive threat anticipation and prevention.
Together, they will emerge as a major global software entity, boosting Cisco's shift towards recurring revenue.
This collaboration unites two esteemed workplaces with shared values, robust cultures, and skilled teams.
The synergy between these pioneering companies positions them for leadership in AI-driven security and observability.
Anticipated to yield positive cash flow and improved gross margins in the initial fiscal year following the merger, with non-GAAP EPS enhancement expected by year two.
Cisco and Splunk, the leader in cybersecurity and observability, today announced a definitive agreement under which Cisco will acquire Splunk for $157 per share in cash, representing an equity value of approximately $28 billion. Gary Steele, president and CEO of Splunk, will join Cisco's Executive Leadership Team upon completion of the acquisition, reporting to Cisco chair and CEO Chuck Robbins.
Chair and CEO of Cisco, Chuck Robbins, remarked,
We're excited to bring Cisco and Splunk together. Our combined capabilities will drive the next generation of AI-enabled security and observability. From threat detection and response to threat prediction and prevention, we will help make organizations of all sizes more secure and resilient.
[Source: Cision PR Newswire]
Every company relies on data to operate its business and make mission-critical choices in today's hyper-connected environment. Accelerating and adopting generative AI, growing danger surfaces, and different cloud environments offer unprecedented complexity for enterprises. To be digitally resilient, organizations must better manage, preserve, and unleash data's value.
Gary Steele, president and CEO of Splunk, stated that they would together form a global security and observability leader that will harness the power of data and AI to deliver outstanding customer outcomes and transform the industry. Steele added that they’re eager to join forces with a trusted and long-time partner who shares their passion for innovation and top customer experience, and they expect their community of Splunk employees to benefit from the greater opportunities as they bring together two purpose-driven and respected organizations.
Cisco and Splunk will give insight across hybrid and multi-cloud systems, enabling clients to provide seamless application experiences for digital enterprises. The companies can help other organizations responsibly use AI due to their scale, data visibility, and trust. These two firms will unite to invest more in innovative products, accelerate innovation, and expand globally to serve clients of all sizes. The transaction is expected to be cash flow positive and gross margin accretive in the first fiscal year post-close, with non-GAAP EPS accretive in year two. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions, including approval by Splunk shareholders.
Advisors for the Cisco-Splunk acquisition include Tidal Partners LLC, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP Cravath and Swaine & Moore LLP, among others.
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Network Threat Detection
PR Newswire | October 04, 2023
Kyndryl (NYSE: KD), the world's largest IT infrastructure services provider, today announced a strategic global alliance with Palo Alto Networks to provide end-to-end network and cybersecurity services, including the launch of a new service offering, powered by Prisma SD-WAN for enterprises and Industry 4.0 customers.
The alliance brings together Palo Alto Networks industry-leading platform security capabilities with Kyndryl's advanced network security services expertise to design, build, manage, and modernize mission-critical networking for customers across industries.
The companies are joining forces to capitalize on emerging opportunities in the SD-WAN infrastructure market that IDC estimates will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.1% through 2027. As the demands of enterprise mobility accelerate, enterprises are looking for greater operational agility to support their digital transformation. Businesses need to support the growing number of devices used to access the corporate network and cloud-based applications, while also meeting evolving security and compliance requirements.
Kyndryl and Palo Alto Networks are partnering to help businesses deliver consistent security and an enhanced user experience for customers everywhere, and across industries such as services, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and retail. Kyndryl's new SD-WAN offering, powered by Prisma SD-WAN, will enable customers to transform and modernize their networks and meet the growing bandwidth demands of the proliferation of devices and cloud traffic. The new approach to network connectivity will provide a single pane of glass management to their networks, and simplifies deployment to branch-offices and edge services. By helping customers transition into a flexible and scalable network, Kyndryl will be able to help enterprises build a roadmap and incorporate new security paradigms such as SASE with Kyndryl Consulting services.
At Kyndryl, we are at the forefront of helping enterprises with their network transformation to meet the growing trends of remote work, multi-devices usage, and cloud and data access. As organizations move away from traditional hardware-centric models to OPEX consumption models, the need for agile, highly secure and reliable networks is imperative, said Stephen Leonard, SVP of Global Strategic Alliances, Kyndryl. We are delighted to partner with Palo Alto Networks to provide robust and versatile network security services that will provide many benefits to our customers.
"Together with Kyndryl, we are enabling enterprises to digitally transform confidently and innovate securely, while reaping the benefits of consolidating disparate security solutions into an integrated, best of breed platform," said Prem Iyer, SVP of Global Ecosystems for Palo Alto Networks. "We are committed to helping our joint customers achieve better security outcomes while protecting the modern connected organization from increasingly sophisticated attacks."
The global partnership between Kyndryl and Palo Alto Networks builds on the companies' established collaboration around security services and solutions. In July Kyndryl launched its new Security Operations as a platform (SOaap) solution leveraging Palo Alto Networks Cortex technology to drive operational savings and time-to-value through automation and orchestration.
Earlier this year, Kyndryl and Palo Alto Networks, together with Nokia, established an innovation lab in support of joint enterprise customers. By the end of the year, customers will be able to view innovative industrial edge use cases running on cloud, 4.9G/LTE and 5G private wireless connectivity. This will include remote manufacturing process control and real-time analytics on factory production sites, provisioning and management of mobile devices to improve the employee and frontline worker experience for onboarding and communication, and IT and OT security integration for worker safety and operational efficiencies. Kyndryl's industrial edge platform will be integrated with a multi-factor zero trust model built on Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls, run on Nokia's MXIE Industrial edge as part of Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC)'s solutions, and with end-to-end managed services provided by Kyndryl.
About Kyndryl
Kyndryl (NYSE: KD) is the world's largest IT infrastructure services provider, serving thousands of enterprise customers in more than 60 countries. The company designs, builds, manages and modernizes the complex, mission-critical information systems that the world depends on every day. For more information, visit www.kyndryl.com.
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