Enterprise Application Access Increases Security for Your Enterprise Applications — and the Data Behind Them

Companies all over the world are moving rapidly to enable their entire workforce to work remotely due to the current environment. Akamai’s Enterprise Application Access solution is designed to provide fast and secure remote access to enterprise applications and can be deployed and scaled up quickly to meet customer needs (see Enabling Business Continuity in an Uncertain Global Environment). Akamai’s Enterprise Threat Protector service contributes an additional layer of cloud-based security for those suddenly finding themselves working outside the corporate office (see Business Continuity and Security in an Uncertain Global Environment).

Working from home full-time is a new experience for many employees. They are out of their normal environment and may not have the same equipment they used in the office — or if they do, they might still be tempted to work on their personal devices. A recently introduced capability of the Enterprise Application Access solution provides another tool IT and security professionals can use to secure their enterprise applications. Just as a user’s credentials are checked and authenticated before allowing access, Enterprise Application Access can check to ensure any device has a safe posture before it is allowed to access applications. Operating system versions, the status of the device’s firewall, the presence of anti-malware agents — all can be checked and used in application access control rules to secure applications.

This posture is determined by signals collected by Enterprise Application Access natively from the device. But there are other entities in the customer ecosystem — for example, endpoint protection and response solutions — that have additional information about a device. Enterprise Application Access has several integrations that bring in this additional information for the sole purpose of protecting applications from threats. One integration module is with Akamai’s own Enterprise Threat Protector service, which can identify if a device is infected with malware so that — once Enterprise Application Access is informed — the device can be blocked from accessing applications. Akamai has another integration with VMware Carbon Black, again using information available to the VMware Carbon Black agent to protect applications accessed via Enterprise Application Access. Sadly, this additional protection is needed now more than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic (see COVID-19 Phishing: Exploiting a Global Pandemic).

This capability’s primary purpose is to protect applications and is just one of the adaptive access capabilities of Enterprise Application Access. Unlike other solutions that might check a device only at the beginning of an application session, Enterprise Application Access continues to monitor the device throughout the application session, adapting to changes. Any change in a device’s posture for the worse is immediately detected, and that device can be blocked from further access — an automatic mitigation of threats.

Enterprise Application Access will also help the user remediate the issues on a device and reduce the load on your help desk staff. If a device is blocked from accessing an application, remediation hints are delivered that can help the user fix the issue (e.g., upgrade the OS or enable the firewall) without involving the IT group. And this is especially important when the user — and their device — is remote from the help desk, as is quickly becoming the norm in today’s challenging environment.

To find out more about Enterprise Application Access and how it can help your business improve its security posture, please visit akamai.com/Enterprise Application Access. Akamai is also offering a Business Continuity Assistance Program that includes complimentary 60-day usage of the Enterprise Application Access solution. Learn more about how Akamai can help you.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from The Akamai Blog authored by Dan Hall. Read the original post at: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheAkamaiBlog/~3/nc1dn5AZgsI/enterprise-application-access-increases-security-for-your-enterprise-applications-and-the-data-behin.html