Getting smart about software-defined networks

Nextplatform | June 07, 2019

More and more of the networking that is done in the datacenter is performed on software-defined networking whiteboxes rather than on proprietary black box machinery that was controlled by one supplier. Breaking the hardware free of the software lets both evolve independently, and also allows network devices to be tuned to do just the jobs that are necessary and no more.SDN succeeds by separating the control and data planes, employing a software-based, centralized control plane to direct networking hardware data plane and ensure efficient management of the entire network.

Spotlight

Onsite host Joe Zollo asks VMware CEO Raghu Raghuram and President Sumit Dhawan to break down the news coming out of VMware Explore Las Vegas.


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Virtual Desktop Tools, Cloud

Anjuna Adds Support for Microsoft Azure Confidential VMs

Globenewswire | July 04, 2023

Anjuna Security Inc., a confidential computing software company, today announced that its flagship product, the Anjuna Confidential Computing Platform, now supports Microsoft Azure confidential virtual machines (VMs) powered by AMD EPYC™ processors with Secure Encrypted Virtualization-Secure Nested Paging (SEV-SNP) security features. This added functionality represents a significant advancement in Anjuna’s support for Azure confidential computing (ACC) solutions and increases flexibility of choice for Microsoft customers. “As a leader in off-chain computation, where trust and security are non-negotiable, we are very excited by Anjuna’s expanded support for the latest AMD SEV-SNP confidential computing technology on Microsoft Azure that provides powerful isolation, risk reduction, and simplicity for sensitive data and code, taking confidential computing ease of use, trust, and simplicity to next level,” said Mitch Gildenberg, Switchboard CTO. Azure confidential VMs, powered by AMD SEV-SNP, provide a robust platform to securely migrate and run enterprise applications to the cloud with data-in-use protection. While running in confidential VMs, applications can be isolated from other VMs, the hypervisor, and cloud infrastructure operators. Additionally, Anjuna's solution provides further isolation and safeguards for threats originating from the guest OS, misconfigurations, and other applications running in the same VM and the VM administrator. With more organizations processing more sensitive data in the cloud for generative AI, financial systems, and high-value transactions processing, however, security must extend to cover all these additional threats. Anjuna Confidential Computing Platform enhances Azure confidential VMs, strengthening data protection and improving operational efficiency at scale. Anjuna automates the end-to-end deployment process and further protects applications in hardened Anjuna Confidential Containers that cannot be accessed by the other applications or the VM administrator. Moreover, Anjuna seamlessly and without code changes integrates attestation-aware key management capabilities via the Anjuna Policy Manager, ensuring that secrets are exclusively distributed to trusted applications. “At Anjuna, we believe Confidential Computing should be ubiquitous, easy to use, and above all, secure without trade-offs. For too long, enterprises have had to choose between ease of use and security. In today’s digital economy, this is no longer acceptable,” said Ayal Yogev, CEO and co-founder of Anjuna Security. “Microsoft Azure is a leading innovator in confidential computing and we are excited to be among the first Confidential Computing software providers to support both their Intel SGX and AMD SEV-SNP powered infrastructure. We are committed to keep working closely with Microsoft to unlock the full potential of Azure Confidential Computing services.” “We are committed to making Microsoft Azure a trusted cloud platform offering a broad portfolio of Confidential Computing solutions to customers,” said Vikas Bhatia, Head of Product, Azure confidential computing at Microsoft. “The combination of Azure confidential VMs powered by AMD SEV-SNP and the Anjuna Confidential Computing Platform unlocks value to customers, ensuring high levels of data protection and privacy with streamlined operations and ease of use.” About Anjuna Security Anjuna allows applications to run in any cloud with complete data security and privacy. Anjuna isolates workloads in a protected environment that intrinsically secures data in every state. Anjuna empowers enterprises to directly control application-level trust policies, ensuring that only trusted code can access sensitive data. Anjuna works with enterprises around the globe in industries such as financial services, government, and blockchain. To learn more about Anjuna’s platform and impact, visit Anjuna.io.

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Virtual Desktop Strategies, Virtual Server Management

VMware Advances Autonomous Workspaces with AI-Powered Integrations

Business Wire | August 28, 2023

VMware Explore 2023 — Data and intelligence play a key role in enabling automation and implementing a successful hybrid work strategy, but a holistic approach is required to maximize its advantages. Today, VMware announces modern AI integrations to the Anywhere Workspace platform, part of the VMware Cross-Cloud services portfolio, that automatically optimize employee experience, drive new vulnerability management use cases, and simplify application lifecycle management. VMware Anywhere Workspace is the only hybrid work platform that integrates digital employee experience (DEX), virtual desktop infrastructure and apps (VDI and DaaS), unified endpoint management (UEM) and security to enable a seamless and secure workspace on any device or location. “Last year, we announced our Autonomous Workspace vision as a path forward for organizations to navigate the challenges brought on by hybrid work,” said Shankar Iyer, senior vice president and general manager, End-User Computing, VMware. “We are thrilled to unveil new advancements for our customers that expand data sources and insights, integrate with technology partners for improved security, and unify app delivery strategy across all virtual desktops and apps. These innovations continue to progress our vision of providing the next evolution of digital workspaces.” Integrated AI-Driven Platform Scales Experience Management VMware continues to leverage data, intelligence, and automation to improve the employee and IT experience by introducing new Insights and Playbooks based on greatly expanded data and machine learning algorithms that enhance DEX remediation capabilities. These updates broaden access to data, help strengthen VMware Insights, and allow for remediation of more issues. VMware will now enable delivery of new app performance scores, in addition to existing mobile device, desktop, and virtual environment experience scores. If a SaaS app service goes down, IT is proactively alerted and employees are automatically notified. This allows IT to quickly resolve the outage without dealing with inbound support tickets and employees don't waste time trying to access unavailable services. But simply providing IT with more data is not enough to empower them to work smarter. VMware’s AI-driven Insights feature now provides anomaly detection that informs IT of potential experience issues for frontline devices and VDI environments, in addition to mobile and desktop environments. Today’s announcement of new Playbooks enables IT to create step-by-step remediation workflows to resolve incidents more efficiently and use success rate analytics to automate the resolution process and streamline execution over time. “Workspace ONE Intelligence has been a game changer for us when it comes to automating life cycle management inside UEM. We have been utilizing it for automatically tagging devices and assigning them into smart groups. We have also used several dashboard templates for monitoring our security stance and helping remediate high-risk security threats,” said George March, manager of digital workspace and development, Information Technology, USA Health. “Next on our roadmap is implementing the ITSM connector, and with the addition of remediation playbooks, we are so excited about the way it will streamline our help desk support teams workflows.” Unique Partner Integration Powers New Security and Manageability Use Cases Ensuring end-to-end manageability and security for today’s distributed workforce is critical and requires a holistic approach to vulnerability assessment, prioritization, remediation, out-of-band support, and reporting. Collaboration with a best-of-breed partner ecosystem that offers speed, breadth, and depth in vulnerability management is necessary to protect against sophisticated attack vectors. VMware is committed to innovating together with our technology partners to provide customers with more secure and seamless hybrid experiences. Today, VMware continues this mission by announcing an expanded partnership with Intel through a one-of-a-kind, cloud-native integration of Workspace ONE with Intel vPro®. This chip-to-cloud integration makes it easier to secure and remotely manage work devices entirely from the cloud, with no additional on-premises infrastructure and management software needed. Through line of sight and out-of-band management of vPro powered devices, IT teams can have below-the-OS vulnerability insights, and visibility to reduce the impact of potential exploits quickly and efficiently. Using Workspace ONE, customers can have centralized visibility into Intel vPro-powered PCs and accelerate patch remediation cycles for devices located outside of office perimeters, even if the devices are sleeping or powered off. This improves security and compliance by accomplishing higher patch saturation with fewer remediation steps and reduces potential disruption to employee productivity. Modern App Management Simplifies Virtual Environments Managing and delivering apps across VDI, DaaS, and published app environments has become increasingly complex and inefficient due to silos of legacy tools used. VMware recently introduced Apps on Demand, powered by VMware App Volumes, to unify app management and intelligently deploy apps to published app hosts or non-persistent desktop environments, all based on real-time app usage. Today, VMware announces additional expansion of App Volumes support to deliver apps on demand to persistent virtual desktops. Now in beta availability, customers with persistent VMware Horizon environments will be able to use App Volumes to capture their apps once and deliver to many persistent virtual desktops. This automates the app delivery process with up to 99% compatibility and reduces management time and costs for any desktop or published app environment. VMware App Volumes is the only solution to help organizations deliver and manage apps across VMware Horizon, Citrix, Microsoft, and Amazon virtual desktop and app deployments as part of VMware’s Apps Everywhere vision. Boeing: A ‘Hybrid Workforce Innovator’ The Boeing Company (Boeing) has used VMware Workspace ONE across the United States and in more than 65 countries to support its global workforce of 140,000 employees who develop, manufacture and service commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for its customers. At VMware Explore 2023 Las Vegas, they were named ‘Hybrid Workforce Innovator’ as part of the 2023 VMware Customer Achievement Awards for the Americas for enabling its workforce to work from anywhere in the world, improving the user experience while reinforcing and advancing security for devices and applications. “VMware Anywhere Workspace helps us manage and protect end points, provide a common platform to access apps and tools, as well as helping facilitate a digital experience for our employees,” said Kristina Ross, Boeing Workplace Solutions director for Research & Technology. “Workspace ONE helped streamline our transition from traditional PC lifecycle management to Windows 10 modern management which was enabled by our shift to a SaaS-based solution for the company. Today, we have a unified view to oversee all endpoint requirements, and the adoption of SaaS enhanced our scalability and ability to shift focus from infrastructure to business facing solutions.” About VMware VMware is a leading provider of multi-cloud services for all apps, enabling digital innovation with enterprise control. As a trusted foundation to accelerate innovation, VMware software gives businesses the flexibility and choice they need to build the future. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is committed to building a better future through the company’s 2030 Agenda.

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Virtual Desktop Strategies, Backup and Disaster Recovery

eSentire's New MDR Agent Brings Unmatched Cybersecurity Value to Small and Medium Businesses

businesswire | August 10, 2023

eSentire, Inc., the Authority in Managed Detection and Response (MDR), today announced the expansion of its proprietary software and services portfolio with the introduction of its new MDR Agent. The eSentire Agent is the latest innovation of the firm's SaaS-based Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Platform, developed specifically for small and medium businesses (SMBs) seeking affordable prevention, detection, investigation, and response capabilities as part of an all-in-one 24/7 solution. eSentire will be elevating the eSentire Agent’s differentiated capabilities this week at Black Hat USA in Las Vegas and will begin offering its Agent as part of eSentire’s value-rich MDR service bundles, including endpoint, log, and network protection, in October 2023. eSentire created the category ofManaged Detection and Responsewith the vision of arming 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC) Analysts with the tools to perform digital forensic-grade investigations to rapidly contain attacks before they spread. As the firm has scaled to protect over 2000 leading organizations across 35 industries globally, its focus on deep investigation to drive proactive threat response and remediation has never wavered. In 2021, eSentire acquired state-of-the-art, digital forensics and investigative software, CyFIR, transforming its Incident Response practice and disrupting the industry with a 4-hour threat suppression SLA commitment as part of its24/7 On-Demand IR Retaineroffering. Over the last 24 months, eSentire has scaled its digital forensics software to also power MDR outcomes – delivering unmatched time to value and choice for SMBs. eSentire Agent’s Prevention, Detection, Investigation, and Response Capabilities eSentire’s MDR Agent begins with a prevention-first approach, stopping malware and ransomware using deep learning technology with incredible efficacy: Blocking 99% of known and unknown threats <0.1% false positive rate <20 millisecond time to prevent Delivering on eSentire’s service promise of world-class threat response that prevents business disruption, the Agent acts as a protective presence across customer endpoints, extracting unfiltered, rich telemetry data. These insights into potential threats are processed by eSentire’s XDR Platform and investigated by its SOC, driving improved security outcomes, including the containment of lateral movement and data exfiltration efforts. As SMBs grapple with a significant shortage of cybersecurity experts and the need to prioritize security investments, eSentire is delivering unmatched cybersecurity value with its XDR Platform and Agent as part of its MDR service, including: Rapid time to value with expert onboarding and one-push install 24/7 security monitoring and expertise to offset resource constraints Operationalized threat intelligence from eSentire’sThreat Response Unit (TRU) 150+ novel detections added per quarter to augment security threat detection Automated blocking of 99% of known and unknown threats Full-scale detection, prevention, investigation, and response Mean Time to Contain active security threats of 15 minutes The introduction of the eSentire Agent complements eSentire’s robust, best-of-breed ecosystem of endpoint partners, including CrowdStrike, Microsoft, SentinelOne, and VMWare Carbon Black, which can all be managed within eSentire’s MDR offering as a fully licensed solution or in a Bring Your Own Subscription model. “As the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve and grow more complex, service providers everywhere have to remember the customer always gets a vote,” said Rahul Bakshi, Chief Product Officer, eSentire. “eSentire believes they will choose value, every time. That’s why we are bringing the eSentire MDR Agent to market as part of full-service bundles that offer enterprise-grade security at a fraction of the price. We have made great strides in advancing the Agent from a digital forensics tool to a MDR force multiplier and plan to leverage its innovative capabilities as a universal investigation and response enabler across all technology types in the near future.” eSentire will showcase its MDR Agent and full-service offering with demonstrations on the Black Hat USA show floor at booth #2823 from August 9-10, 2023. About eSentire eSentire, Inc., the Authority in Managed Detection and Response (MDR), protects the critical data and applications of 2000+ organizations in 80+ countries, across 35 industries from known and unknown cyber threats by providing Exposure Management, Managed Detection and Response and Incident Response services designed to build an organization's cyber resilience & prevent business disruption. Founded in 2001, eSentire protects the world's most targeted organizations with 65% of its global base recognized as critical infrastructure, vital to economic health and stability. By combining open XDR platform technology, 24/7 threat hunting, and proven security operations leadership, eSentire's award-winning MDR services and team of experts help organizations anticipate, withstand and recover from cyberattacks

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Virtual Desktop Strategies, Virtual Server Management

BCN Partners with Cato Networks to Offer SASE Cloud Platform

prnewswire | July 31, 2023

BCN, a New Jersey-based communications technology solution provider focused on multi-location enterprise businesses, announced today the formation of a new partnership with Cato Networks, provider of the world's leading SASE platform. The partnership allows BCN's nationwide network of sales partners to offer enterprises the Cato SASE Cloud platform to address today's key networking and security requirements. The transition to remote work and the emergence of a cloud-first culture have had a major impact on enterprise networks and information security. Networking patterns have changed, and organizations must deploy new services and cater to new requirements faster than ever. A SASE architecture provides the agility and flexibility needed in this new environment. SASE makes it possible to deploy new branches remotely with low overhead. It also provides the security stack to ensure employees and contractors can access systems securely from anywhere. Enterprises in healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, and other vertical markets are actively engaged in branch modernization and branch transformation projects. BCN's ability to offer a Cato SASE Cloud solution empowers them to do so with confidence. With BCN's deep portfolio of connectivity services, these businesses now have access to a fully managed and connected SASE-driven solution from one technology provider, on one invoice, with one point of contact for service and support. Cato SASE Cloud is the world's most robust single-vendor SASE platform converging Cato SD-WAN and a cloud-native security service edge, Cato SSE 360, into a global cloud service. Cato enables enterprises to move away from rigid and disjointed connectivity and security architecture to Cato SASE Cloud, a modern secure network delivered as a service. Cato enables IT to rapidly address new business requirements, such as global expansion, M&A, cloud migration, and the hybrid workforce. Cato's converged architecture reduces cost and complexity with simple management, self-healing infrastructure, and automatically evolving defense that seamlessly mitigates emerging threats. Frank Rauch, Global Channel Chief of Cato Networks, said, "We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with BCN. The shift to hybrid work is proving challenging to enterprises everywhere. Effective network security is more challenging than ever. With BCN's expertise and resourcefulness, enterprises will benefit strongly from this partnership." Julian Jacquez, President, and COO of BCN, said, "Our sales partners and enterprise customers will benefit tremendously from the partnership BCN and Cato have forged. Cato's SASE technology platform, integrated with BCN's robust connectivity services portfolio means our partners and customers can address a host of security and networking challenges and take advantage of opportunities that yield cost-efficiency through our collaborative and transparent service delivery architecture." About BCN BCN is a closely held and operated communications technology solutions provider with the flexibility and experience to address every customer need uniquely, creating tailored solutions based on the portfolios of over 100 wholesale network and technology partners. In addition, BCN provides customers with one monthly invoice for all services and a state-of-the-art portal to manage their BCN business. For almost three decades, BCN has delivered best-in-class solutions domestically and internationally to business customers.

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