ManageEngine, the real-time IT management company, today announced cloud control capability for Firewall Analyzer, its security log analysis and firewall device management software. Using this new feature, security professionals can identify shadow IT operating beyond the administrators’ control. The cloud control capability includes new reports that empower security administrators to monitor beyond network app usage and bandwidth consumed and to exercise control over shadow IT.
ManageEngine is demonstrating the new cloud control capability of Firewall Analyzer at the 7th e-crime & information security Dubai summit being held Wednesday, March 18, 2015, at the Conrad Dubai.
With the advent of cloud, mobile apps and BYOD, IT infrastructure is getting complex and becoming increasingly difficult to manage when compared to the relative simplicity of managing the legacy client-server architecture. An application that can be accessed via a multitude of devices paves the way for shadow IT, which does not come within the domain of the security or network administrators. In turn, shadow IT can compromise network security.
A classic case of shadow IT involves an international telecom operator that does not allow offshore calls to be forwarded to inland, local numbers. Meanwhile, the same operator provides a mobile app that circumvents that security and government regulation. The mobile app is designed to give a better user experience, but it could result in a security breach because it bypasses the security restriction of the telecom application, which has its own checks and balances in place to secure the network. Clearly, the cloud security and the mobile apps security need to be strengthened. Security monitoring needs to include cloud and shadow IT.
“When security monitoring expands up to the cloud, which has no clear boundary demarcation, Firewall Analyzer has to brace up to meet the challenge,” said Pravinkumar Rajendran, product manager for Firewall Analyzer at ManageEngine. “The overall shift in IT demands intelligent monitoring and reporting of security events. We foresaw this and strengthened Firewall Analyzer with new dimension reports to monitor mobile and cloud apps, app categories and app usage by users. With these reports, the security administrator can find out what is happening beyond the network but is still having an impact on the network.”
ManageEngine provides the solution to control the cloud and thereby prevent shadow IT.
With the new cloud control feature, Firewall Analyzer provides the following reports:
- Specific app- and app category-based bandwidth consumption
- Specific app- and app category-based events occurred
- App usage statistics per user
Pricing and Availability
The Firewall Analyzer cloud control feature is immediately available in the beta release of Firewall Analyzer; download at http://www.manageengine.com/firewall/download-beta-cloud-control.html. Firewall Analyzer users can download the beta version via the Firewall Analyzer beta program.