Forcepoint bets big on platform vision

In the midst of a major transformation and branding exercise under a new company name, Forcepoint (earlier known as Raytheon| Websense), is betting big on a platform vision to differentiate itself in the highly competitive market of enterprise security.

Surendra Singh, Country Director, Forcepoint, believes that the timing for a brand re-launch is apt, as the enterprise security industry is going through its own transformation. Cyber crime has become extremely sophisticated, and can even mean closure of businesses, as technology is embedded within most business processes today. A report by Juniper Research, suggests that the rapid digitisation of consumers’ lives and enterprise records will increase the cost of data breaches to $2.1 trillion globally by 2019, increasing to almost four times the estimated cost of breaches in 2015.

Forcepoint has created an enterprise security platform which has been built on the successful integration of Websense, Raytheon Cyber Products, and Stonesoft. This helps enterprises address the constantly evolving cybersecurity challenges and regulatory requirements facing businesses and government agencies.

Enterprise security is going through a challenging phase today, as some of the most reputed names in the industry have been hacked. “With a huge number of vulnerabilities and threats being detected almost every day, it is difficult for human security analysts to analyze and pinpoint the exact reason for attacks. At the same time, organizations are challenged in handling multiple security platforms which are designed for handling specific threats and operate as silo platforms. With our unified security platform, we believe that we have a huge opportunity”, opines Surendra Singh.

Ransomware and insider attacks on the rise

As India becomes more and more digitally enabled, cyber threats are also increasing accordingly. Forcepoint, for example, has observed a rise in ransomware activities in India. States Singh, “Cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated. For example, hackers today even know which machines they want to hold for ransom. They know the fact that machines which hold more critical data can fetch them more money. We are seeing a rise in SMB customers also being targeted with ransomware attacks,” states Singh.

Forcepoint has also seen a rise in frauds and data thefts caused by insiders, which can be intentional or by accident. “By using technology which looks at the context of a data theft, organizations can find out whether the intention is malicious in nature. To bolster security, one has to look at identifying the data, the riskiest assets and the riskiest users who can cause the maximum damage. Once a baseline is set, organizations can then enforce controls to ensure that employees comply,” says Singh.

Forcepoint is also seeing a major opportunity due to adoption of cloud-based apps by enterprises. While most organizations have DLP on premise, they struggle to apply the same controls in the cloud. “Many enterprises have separate security policies for cloud and on-premise. This inconsistency in security controls between cloud providers and companies is complicating data protection. The same policies and controls that exists on-premise must be expanded from the existing infrastructure to include Office 365 applications and services. This is an opportunity for us, as we can provide the same level of security across mediums – be it on-premise or the cloud,” states Singh.

For example, with the rise in Microsoft Office 365 adoption, ForcePoint is seeing a surge in demand for its specific solution for Office 365. Forcepoint complements Office 365 with a combination of protection against outside advanced attacks and insider threats with data loss prevention (DLP) in a single solution, without add-ons or any integration.

With a rise in adoption of SaaS-based applications, Singh believes that Forcepoint’s ability to deliver protection from a single console and a single place to monitor and manage incidents across cloud and hybrid IT environments, will help it to differentiate itself in a competitive market.