This release becomes the first AppSense product to benefit from the LANDESK merger, as it adds patch management from Shavlik Protect, which is an independent business unit within LANDESK.
Reza Parsia, director of LANDESK’s North America Channel
Last May, AppSense, which continues to release solutions under its own brand after its acquisition by LANDESK, announced its new Endpoint Security Suite. It brought together two existing products, AppSense Application Manager and AppSense Insight, in a single SKU. Now they have released Endpoint Security Suite 2.0. And while it does not make great strides in developing the integration of those products, it does add patch management. The full integration is still promised at some not too distant future point.
“This is really the first fruits of our merger with LANDESK,” said Reza Parsia, director of LANDESK’s North America Channel.
The fruit in question here is Shavlik Protect, a patch management solution which joins AppSense Application Manager and AppSense Insight as the pillars of the suite. Shavlik is an independently managed business unit within LANDESK, which LANDESK acquired in 2013 from VMware. VMware had acquired the original company in 2011.
“Endpoint Security Suite 2.0 adds the broadest endpoint security functionality by adding patch to whitelisting, privilege management and discovery,” Parsia said. “We feel that this combination of multiple products will mitigate 85 per cent of all intrusions.”
AppSense is marketing the enhanced suite as meeting the five critical measures necessary for a cyberdefense system that can mitigate malware and ransomware attacks, described by the SANS Institute as the ‘First Five.’ These are: software whitelisting; secure standard configurations; application security patch installation within 48 hours; system security patch installation within 48 hours; and administration privilege restriction when users are browsing the web or handling email. Endpoint Security Suite 2.0 now covers all of these.
“This gives our channel partners the ability to go back to their customers with a unique and simple security offering,” Parsia said.
When the original version of the suite came out in the spring, AppSense acknowledged that the suite at that time provided much better pricing than buying the component parts separately, but said that subsequent versions would deliver on true engineering integrations that will enhance the product further. Parsia said this level of integration isn’t here in 2.0. but it will be coming, although the company isn’t yet in a position to make the roadmap public.
“You will shortly see integration with LANDESK’s Xtraction product and AppSense DesktopNow,” he noted, indicating that this announcement was likely this week.
The Endpoint Security Suite 2.0 is available now through AppSense and Shavlik sales channels. It will be showcased during VMworld in Las Vegas, August 28 through September 1 in AppSense booth #447 and Shavlik booth #445.
