Venafi recognised for security industry leadership and technology innovation in helping enterprises regain control over trust and targeted attacks
Bracknell, UK – 7th May 2013
Venafi, the inventor of and market leader in Enterprise Key and Certificate Management (EKCM) solutions, today announced that SC (Secure Computing) Magazine Europe has named Venafi Director as Best Encryption Solution in the SC Europe 2013 Awards. The awards recognise innovative security solutions worldwide, rewarding industry-leading security vendors and cutting-edge technologies. The Best Encryption Solution award acknowledges Venafi’s innovation and leadership in helping organisations regain control over trust.
The honour comes at a time when many organisations have, unfortunately, lost that control. Targeted cyber-attacks are steadily increasing, and business executives face the costly consequences of exploits against cryptographic keys and digital certificates, the foundational technologies that establish trust. Through advanced, persistent attacks (APTs), bad actors will exploit any weakness in a security system to gain unauthorized access and steal data. Poor key and certificate management, coupled with weak, outdated cryptographic methods, leave organisations vulnerable to common, well-known exploits such as malware signed with stolen private keys or fraudulent certificates. As cloud computing increases and employee-owned devices are allowed on the network, the challenge of securing company data everywhere increases exponentially.
Hackers are targeting cryptographic keys and digital certificates due to the pivotal role these assets play in all enterprises, explained Kevin Bocek, Vice President of Product Marketing at Venafi. “In recent years, organisations have begun to realise their dependence on keys and certificates for almost every electronic service, from airline operations and online payments to cloud computing and secure communications. The importance of controlling trust and reducing exposure in this area simply cannot be overstated.”
Bocek expressed concern, however, that organisations’ management of their encryption assets does not match the assets’ importance. “Over half of all enterprises don’t know how many keys and certificates are in use, for instance. More than 60 percent of organisations would take a day or more to correct CA trust relationships if attacked by digitally signed malware. Organisations would respond just as slowly to a compromised SSH key—although these keys unlock all the resources in the cloud. Combine ignorance of how trust is established with the inability to quickly respond when trust breaks down, and you have the perfect vehicle for an APT and sophisticated attackers to launch their exploits.”
“That’s why,” continued Bocek, “we’re so thrilled that SC Magazine Europe recognized both the scope of the problem and how Venafi Director helps organisations to overcome it. We’re honoured to have won the Best Encryption Solution Award for the only solution in the industry that’s helping enterprises regain control of their most critical encryption resources.”
Venafi helps enterprises reduce the risk of malicious attacks on trust. With full lifecycle management of cryptographic keys and digital certificates, Venafi provides complete visibility into key and certificate inventories and end-to-end automation of processes. Venafi Director is the only enterprise platform that allows organisations to discover all their keys and certificates, connect these assets to the people responsible for them, report on and audit their use to prove compliance, enforce policies to reduce risk and errors, and automate all management operations to eliminate security threats, unplanned outages and compliance failures.
About Venafi
Venafi is the inventor of and market leader in enterprise key and certificate management (EKCM). Venafi delivered the first enterprise-class solution to discover all digital certificates and cryptographic keys within an organization, connect these assets to the people responsible for them, report on and audit their use to prove compliance, enforce policy, and automate operations to eliminate security risks, unplanned outages and compliance failures. Designed specifically for the enterprise, Venafi Director helps organizations regain control over trust in the data center, on desktops and mobile devices, and in the cloud by managing Any Key. Any Certificate. Anywhere™. Venafi also publishes best practices for effective key and certificate management. Venafi customers include the world’s most prestigious Global 2000 organizations in financial services, insurance, high tech, telecommunications, aerospace, healthcare and retail. Venafi is backed by top-tier venture capital funds, including Foundation Capital, Pelion Venture Partners and Origin Partners. For more information, visit www.venafi.com.