GFI Software adds another layer of security

GFI Software™ has announced the addition of its Web Protection service to GFI Cloud™, the company’s innovative IT platform for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) designed to enable IT administrators to easily manage and secure servers, workstations and laptops on the move from a Web-based user interface. This new service enables SMB IT managers to reduce exposure from Web-based security risks and productivity loss by managing Internet access and use on company machines – regardless of whether they are in-house or in remote locations. With this addition, GFI is one of the industry’s leading vendors offering antivirus, patch management and Web protection on all the endpoints managed from a single, centralised console in the cloud.

Unsupervised Internet browsing can result in security risks, legal liabilities, productivity loss and bandwidth drain, but resource-strapped IT administrators often don’t have the time or budget to discover and manage a Web monitoring solution. With GFI Cloud’s easy-to-use, Web-based management console, administrators can be up and running within minutes. The click and enable approach enables IT admins to effortlessly gain control of Web browsing on all the machines under management.

Web Protection offers extensive Web security features, enabling administrators to be in complete control of security across their distributed infrastructure by easily protecting machines from websites pushing malware, phishing sites, proxies, spyware, adware, botnets and spam. Web Protection ensures that the majority of malicious code on the Internet is blocked at the point of request, ensuring that it never even makes it to the endpoint, be it servers, client PCs or laptops. Every five minutes computers are protected from the latest web security threats.

With Web Protection’s URL filtering capabilities, administrators can apply Web content filtering policies, such as time-based browsing rules, across more than 80 different categories of websites, keeping users productive and protecting businesses from security risks and legal liabilities. Additionally, Web monitoring functionality helps administrators stay on top of bandwidth usage through real-time graphical reports and automated alerts when defined bandwidth thresholds are reached. With these tools, administrators can easily spot excess bandwidth usage by device, URL or category of website and quickly remediate the problem to avoid unwanted costs and network strain.

“Malware is growing more sophisticated by the day, and cybercriminals are targeting users from all directions – on social media sites, through unpatched software, in search engine results, the list goes on,” said Sergio Galindo, Head of Global Product Management at GFI Software. “The security risks are increasing by the minute, yet SMB IT administrators are faced with the same tight budgets and thin resources. GFI Cloud helps administrators overcome these challenges by providing an affordable, easy-to-use, multi-layered approach to security that can be managed through a single, cloud-based console. The result is comprehensive threat protection at a price point and level of simplicity that resource-strapped administrators demand. Our solution gives SMB IT admins more confidence in their IT security and business strategies.”

Cloud-Based Security Trifecta
GFI’s Web Protection service joins a robust line-up of existing services for GFI Cloud, including antivirus, patch management, workstation and server monitoring, asset tracking and remote support. With the addition of Web Protection, GFI offers SMB IT administrators a layered approach to security that includes antivirus, patch management and Web protection through a single, cloud-based solution. Whether they need to defend against the latest online threats, automate patching for third-party software or monitor Web usage, IT administrators can now manage all of their network security and performance needs through a single dashboard – freeing up valuable time and resources so they can focus on other business critical tasks.

GFI Cloud Offers Simplicity, Affordability and Effectiveness
The simplicity of GFI Cloud begins with a one-time installation of an agent that links each machine to the management console via the Web. Once connected, IT administrators log into the easy-to-use GFI Cloud console to manage essential GFI Software services on all workstations and servers intuitively from a single, unifying interface. Regardless of location, the lightweight agent connects each machine to GFI Cloud via the Internet. This enables administrators to manage PCs and laptops used by remote employees as easily as those who are within the network.

GFI Cloud services provide SMBs with advanced antivirus and anti-malware protection, patch management, Web protection, network monitoring and service assurance, and asset and inventory management. These services give administrators the ability to monitor the health and stability of their networks and optimise server and workstation configurations to improve performance. Any or all of these services may be deployed in a flexible and scalable manner that best suits the unique business needs of SMBs. It also easily integrates with the remote access system TeamViewer®. When TeamViewer is detected on a computer, GFI Cloud automatically allows one-click access to that computer, allowing the IT administrator to jump on problems early and resolve them.

GFI will continue to expand GFI Cloud’s product portfolio with functionality powered by the company’s award-winning business and security solutions.