Websense has added e-mail security to its Triton converged security appliance approach and introduced new ways for partners to offer customer security solutions that are on-premise, cloud-based, or a combination of the two.
Triton was introduced last year, integrating Websense’s Web and data security offerings into a single platform. Dave Meizlik, director of product marketing for Web and data security at Websense, said that by adding e-mail support, Websense and its partners are “uniquely positioned” to address shifting needs in a security landscape where attacks are accelerating and customer needs are evolving, particularly as pertains Web-based social tools and the need for mobility.
“With Triton, Websense has transformed itself from being a URL filtering solution, which is in the nice-to-have category, to being a have-to-have uniform content security solution,” Miezlik said. “E-mail is really the third leg on the stool.”
By bringing it all together in one appliance, he said Websense is able to offer full data loss prevention for e-mail. The company is also shifting its focus to a new breed of attacks that increasingly take advantage of social channels, as well as the concern of corporate data being sent out through Web-based social media instead of just e-mail. The company’s Advanced Classification Engine (ACE) has been updated to address new vectors for attack, including those in JavaScript and Flash.
Meizlik said Triton allows for a hybrid approach to security, doing each type of action in the venue that’s most efficient. For example, while outbound mail is scanned on-premise by the appliance, inbound mail can be pre-cleared in the cloud before it hits the corporate firewall. It’s also designed to provide compromises for customers who aren’t yet comfortable with the cloud or who can’t move too quickly into the cloud due to regulation or general IT strategy issues. It also makes it an attractive play for organizations that have branch offices that may be more easily protected from the cloud, as well as a significant headquarters presence.
“The flexibility to do it all on premise, do it all in the cloud or do a hybrid of the two is a real value-add for our partners, and helps them offer a path to the cloud for their customers,” Miezlik said.
The company offers two unified appliances under the Triton strategy, the V5000 and the V10000, supporting 2,000 and 7,5000 connections per site respectively. Miezlik said the sweet spot for most partners is with customers greater than 500 seats – much below that and many customers are eyeing solutions that are exclusively software-as-a-service.
The new appliances with support for e-mail security are already in use in a variety of accounts, Meizlik said, including one with 70,000 employees. General availability is slated for the spring, but Meizlik said that if partners have specific opportunities for the appliances, they can contact Websense for early access.
At its partner conference late last month, the company showed off the new Triton appliances, and is starting to build channel awareness through an early adopter channel program. Free training is also available on the company’s partner portal.
