Security

VMware’s New Service, TrustPoint, Gives CIOs More Control Over Endpoint Security

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Endpoint security is a major concern for enterprises. Managing large numbers of machines is far from simple. Thankfully, industry leaders are always on the lookout for ways to make managing endpoint security easier, and a new tool from VMware and Tanium hopes to provide exceptional control over network security and user device access.

Common Pain Points

Perhaps you’ve experienced some of these endpoint management problems yourself, or are currently in the process of resolving them. Regardless, each of these is certain to eat up a significant portion of your internal IT department’s time, and as the CIO, you have other, more pressing duties to attend to. Below are three major issues that VMware’s TrustPoint hopes to resolve.

  • Flexibility: The threat landscape of the business environment changes over time, and so too will your organization’s infrastructure. Organizations are finding that business mobility and flexibility are very important concepts, and traditional network security solutions don’t allow for the protection that’s necessary in an ever-changing environment.
  • Security patch deployment: Organizations with a large number of endpoints need to apply patches and security updates to all of them. Failing to do so is a security hazard and one which cannot be ignored. The problem is that applying several updates all at the same time can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.
  • Internet of Things and BYOD: With so many Internet-connected devices out there, it’s difficult to know for certain that none of them are infected with viruses, malware, or other threats. If these devices are accessing your network, it’s your responsibility to make sure that they’re not contaminating your systems; but how can you keep unapproved devices from accessing your network?

VMware’s TrustPoint, Powered by Tanium

The idea behind Tanium’s approach to endpoint security is that enterprises that protect from simple threats are more capable of fending off advanced threats, and that by practicing what they call proper “security hygiene,” businesses will be more likely to avoid and prevent major threats from making a move against them. This is the entire concept of TrustPoint, as well; VMware’s new solution allows for a quick and immediate analysis of your infrastructure at a glance, and aims to make it simple to manage multiple computer systems without consuming immense amounts of resources.

Features

TrustPoint can be considered a single point of contact that provides a complete analysis of your infrastructure’s security environment. It provides continuous monitoring, detection, and elimination of threats, and can scan to ensure that all potential vulnerabilities within the infrastructure have been resolved. This can include, but is not limited to, outdated applications, unpatched vulnerabilities, and threat intrusions.

One of the most notable ways that TrustPoint hopes to improve the CIO’s endpoint security experience is by fully leveraging the power of Tanium’s link-chain architecture model. This type of model allows each individual endpoint to communicate with others and act as a managing point for machines around it. This helps to keep your machines from eating up your network’s resources, and speed up the process of administering patches and security updates.

Furthermore, TrustPoint takes no risks with your organization’s endpoint security. Traditional antivirus programs will attempt to prevent viruses and other threats from entering your network in the first place, while TrustPoint will assume that your system has been infected, and will protect it in full force as if there’s a threat hiding somewhere within your infrastructure. The aforementioned link-chain architecture model allows for near-constant scanning of systems, and allows CIOs to detect and resolve issues almost immediately.

Also of note, is that VMware claims TrustPoint is the ideal way to roll out Windows 10, and can even upgrade a consumer-grade Windows 10 machine to a Windows 10 Enterprise system. VMware’s website claims that TrustPoint can handle up to 100 migrations per day, which is in stark contrast to the time it would normally take to migrate that many systems to a new OS. With Windows 10’s free upgrade deadline fast approaching (July 29th, 2016), now is as good a time as ever to take advantage of it.

In a world where your enterprise needs the most dynamic tools available to survive, how will your organization keep itself modern and secure? Would you be willing to give VMware’s TrustPoint a chance? Let us know in the comments.

Ryan Lakin