VPN
Nord Security | October 18, 2021
Nord Security, one of the leaders in the cybersecurity market, has reached a deal to incorporate Atlas VPN. This move will further extend Nord Security’s portfolio of cybersecurity brands and solidify its spot as the premier company for all things cybersecurity.
Atlas VPN is a “freemium” VPN solution that ensures private browsing by changing the IP address and encrypting connections. Established in 2019, Atlas VPN has already made great strides in the cybersecurity sector and has a growing reach and position in the developing markets.
Nord Security has extensive knowledge in building advanced cybersecurity solutions. Its portfolio consists of brands like NordVPN, NordPass, NordLayer, NordLocker, and NordWL. Nord products are acknowledged by the most influential IT security specialists and tech sites.
Atlas VPN will become a part of Nord Security’s corporate structure and will be required to adhere to the core principles of transparency and trustworthiness set by Nord brands, including regular third-party audits. However, on a daily basis, the team behind Atlas VPN will continue to act independently and pursue their goals in the “freemium” segment.
Details of the transaction are not disclosed as both companies are privately owned entities.
About Nord Security:
Nord Security is home for advanced security solutions that share the Nord brand and values, including the world’s most advanced VPN service NordVPN, the next-generation password manager NordPass, encrypted cloud storage NordLocker, and the advanced network access security solution NordLayer. Established in 2012, Nord Security’s products are now acknowledged by the most influential tech sites and IT security specialists.
About Atlas VPN:
Atlas VPN is a highly secure, free VPN provider with a mission to make digital privacy and security accessible to everyone. Although Atlas VPN is relatively new to the VPN market, it already has over 6 million users worldwide. To protect the privacy of its users, the company uses military-grade encryption and protocols and has a strict no-logs policy.
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SECURITY
5G Americas | December 10, 2021
5G networks based on standard technical specifications from the Third Generation Partnership Project continue to be the most widely adopted and secure wireless cellular technology in existence. 5G Americas, the voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas announced the publication of a new white paper entitled ‘Security for 5G’ which details features and recommendations for securing 5G networks and provides an update on the security enhancements introduced by 3GPP in Releases 15 and 16.
The increased speeds and lower latency of 5G networks are beginning to impact nearly every facet of life for consumers and enterprises. Fortunately, security has been the built into 5G right from its inception and has been required throughout its development, planning and deployment.”
Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas
As increased bandwidth, higher data rates, and a surge of new devices and connections have made managing network security more complex, 5G Americas has provided nearly annual updates around the topic of security in wireless cellular networks. ‘Security for 5G’ is the latest update, building on prior work and focuses on evolving 5G security considerations.
This white paper addresses emerging challenges and opportunities, making recommendations for securing 5G networks in the context of the evolution to cloud-based and distributed networks:
3GPP security enhancements in 5G
5G security considerations
Zero-trust networks
3GPP Release 16 security enhancements
Security for 5G vertical segments, such as transportation, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure
Supply chain security
Open RAN security
Additionally, the white paper provides insight into securing 5G in private, public, and hybrid cloud deployment models. Topics such as orchestration, automation, cloud-native security, and application programming interface (API) security are addressed. The transition from perimeter-based security to a zero-trust architecture to protect assets and data from external and internal threats is also discussed.
Pramod Nair, Technical Solutions Architect - Security, Cisco and 5G Americas group co-leader on the paper commented, “5G will allow operators to evolve toward new business models. For 5G to achieve its potential, organizations must embrace multi-layered security that goes far beyond 3GPP specifications by using a pragmatic, multi-layered approach. End-to-End Security should cater to RAN, SDN, MEC, and hybrid, multi-cloud deployments based on a cloud native architecture, secure CI/CD, and zero trust security for 5G.”
Scott Poretsky, Director of Security, North America, Network Product Solutions at Ericsson and 5G Americas group co-leader further added, “5G continues to integrate with other key technology enablers. In the cloud’s multi-stakeholder environment, cloud-native function software vendors, platform vendors, mobile network operators, hyperscale cloud providers, and system integrators must collaborate to clearly define requirements, roles and responsibilities for implementing security architecture and controls.”
About 5G Americas: The Voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas
5G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of leading telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization’s mission is to facilitate and advocate for the advancement and transformation of LTE, 5G and beyond throughout the Americas. 5G Americas is invested in developing a connected wireless community while leading 5G development for all the Americas. 5G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.
5G Americas’ Board of Governors Members include Airspan Networks Inc., Antel, AT&T, Ciena, Cisco, Crown Castle, Ericsson, Intel, Liberty Latin America, Mavenir, Nokia, Qualcomm Incorporated, Samsung, Shaw Communications Inc., T-Mobile US, Inc., Telefónica, VMware, and WOM.
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VIRTUAL DESKTOP STRATEGIES
Sangfor Technologies | September 17, 2021
Sangfor Technologies announced the release of their long-awaited extended protection solution, XDDR Application Containment. Based on Sangfor's XDDR security framework, Application Containment allows the network and endpoints (both on-premise or in-cloud) to work together to identify, control, and report on all applications running on endpoints, or using the network to communicate. Sangfor's XDDR provides an integrated solution that protects against ransomware, malware, APTs, phishing websites and email, and potentially malicious applications.
Controlling and enforcing internet access policies in the workplace has not been easy. Employees want access to the internet for personal use as well as their work, making overly restrictive security solutions difficult to implement and maintain. Organizations deploy proxy servers to control access to the internet and external applications. This access control is necessary to maintain productivity, ensure users do not access malicious sites and unknowingly download malware, and to maximize bandwidth utilization for critical business applications. Many users employ VPN (virtual private network) technology, anonymous browsers, and other proxy avoidance applications to bypass organizational security and content filtering policies enforced by the proxy servers. Sangfor XDDR Application Containment solutions enable the organization to quickly create Proxy Avoidance Protection policies for blocking usage of proxy avoidance tools and applications on the endpoint.
Sangfor's NGAF (Next Generation Application Firewall), IAG (Internet Access Gateway) and Endpoint Secure products work cohesively to provide real-time visualization of all application communication throughout the entire network, quickly identifying proxy avoidance traffic. Proxy Avoidance Protection policies can quickly be built on the NGAF or IAG from Sangfor's extensive library of anti-proxy and proxy avoidance applications. These policies are then deployed by Endpoint Secure to block or monitor anti-proxy applications.
Organizations can also create whitelists and blacklists of applications in Application Containment. This gives administrators granular control of applications running on PCs, laptops, and servers to prevent installation of malware and ransomware, especially with users working from home, to prevent infection of corporate, enterprise, or organizational networks, resources, and critical assets. Peripheral Control manages access to connected USB devices to prevent data leakage.
Traditional extended detection and response (XDR) is network security technology designed to provide increased visibility, analysis functions and response to cyber-threats in the network, cloud, applications, and endpoints. XDR is positioned as the most sophisticated technology available but tends to be more marketing hype than reality, having been developed as the progression of EDR, or endpoint detection and response, to work with non-integrated network security products. Unlike XDR products, Sangfor XDDR Application Containment is the only true solution where network and endpoint work together to identify, control, and report on both allowed and malicious applications running on endpoints and communicating across the network. Sangfor NGAF, IAG and Endpoint Secure coordinate responses so Application Containment can provide real-time blocking and monitoring of unapproved or malicious applications.
Control can be regained from rogue applications delivered by ransomware, malware and APTs that users bring into networks. Sangfor Application Containment blocks the bypassing of internet access controls and prevents users from bringing them in again.
About Sangfor Technologies
Sangfor Technologies is a leading global vendor of IT infrastructure and security solutions, specializing in Cloud Computing & Network Security with a wide range of products & services including Hyper-Converged Infrastructure, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, Next-Generation Firewall, Internet Access Gateway, Endpoint Protection, Ransomware Protection, Managed Detection and Response, WAN Optimization, SD-WAN, and many others.
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