Credant Technologies has announced the release of Credant Protector, an endpoint data leakage prevention suite for government agencies.
The new offering aims to prevent malicious code attacks as well as enabling control of data ports on Department of Defense (DoD) and civilian networks.
Credant says Protector provides enhanced levels of protection for sensitive government data and enables employees to continue using removable media, such as USB drives, while reducing the risk of that data being lost, stolen, or corrupted.
The software can disable the auto run feature on removable media, making it more difficult for malicious code to be spread throughout the network.
According to Credant, Protector also features granular control, which detects and restricts data transfers by device, device type, or serial number; data awareness, which allows, blocks, or restricts the transfer of files to and from external storage devices; an intuitive management console, enabling unified management of policies, alerting preferences, logs, and custom reports; built-in compliance policies; and anti-hardware keylogger, which blocks both USB and PS/2 hardware keyloggers.
Pete Morrison, Vice President for Credant, said: “Sensitive government data is a precious asset that must be protected. The recent malicious code attack to the Department of Defense’s (DoD) network using USB drives demonstrates that removable media can increase the vulnerability of sensitive government data.”
“At the same time, removable media also enhances the government’s ability to share information – an essential tool in protecting the homeland, supporting the warfighter, and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government. The Credant Protector solution helps the government meet these mission-critical needs, allowing IT administrators, rather than individual users, to control data ports.”
In December 2008, the US Department of Defense banned employees from connecting certain USB devices to their computers due to the potential risk of exposing the DoD network, and sensitive information shared on it, to viruses or other malicious software. The announcement came after the US Congressional Budget Office confirmed its mailing list had been hacked in October 2008.
