Press releases
Blue Coat and Vontu partner to stop confidential data loss via SSL encrypted communications
Joint solution first to monitor and prevent data loss through encrypted web mail and other communications using SSL; also protects web and FTP communications
Interop Las Vegas 2006, LAS VEGAS — May 2, 2006 — Blue Coat® Systems (NASDAQ: BCSI), the leader in secure content and application delivery, and Vontu, Inc., the leader in Data Loss Prevention solutions, today announced that the two companies have developed an integrated solution for preventing the loss of confidential data over SSL-encrypted communications, including secure Web mail, secure anonymizers and secure remote terminals or peer-to-peer services for the transferal of data. The joint solution also manages non-secure Web communications and FTP data transfer.
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) communications, including secure Web mail or HTTPS, now represent a significant and sharply growing percentage of corporate Internet traffic. According to Blue Coat research, SSL represented up to 20 percent of Web traffic in 2005, and is expected to reach 30 percent in 2007. In a recent survey of chief security officers and other security executives conducted by CSO Magazine, preventing data loss via HTTPS was listed as a critical or high priority by 71 percent of respondents. (CSO Security SensorTM 2006)
"Today more than ever, it is critical for every enterprise to monitor and manage the flow of confidential information across all types of electronic communication," said Trevor Odell, Manager of Security Administration, Pitney Bowes. "Given the proliferation and ease of establishing secure communication channels such as SSL, it is especially important to gain visibility into and control of encrypted communications in order to comply with data privacy policies and regulations, preserve customer trust and prevent the loss of mission-critical information."
Using a Blue Coat SG appliance with its unique SSL Proxy technology, the joint Vontu-Blue Coat solution is the first to be able to monitor and manage data loss through encrypted Web sessions. Previously, enterprises and organizations were completely blind to confidential information transferred through SSL-encrypted communications.
"Whether it is an employee maliciously or accidentally using secure Web mail to transfer proprietary information assets, or hackers using malware to extract customer records via HTTPS, SSL-encrypted traffic is a total blind spot for IT security," said Steve Roop, vice president of marketing, Vontu. "By integrating with Blue Coat, we can not only deploy our full range of detection technologies across all network traffic, but we can also go beyond monitoring and actually block the transmission of confidential data via SMTP, HTTP, HTTPS or FTP."
The joint solution enables a Blue Coat SG appliance to share inspected traffic with a Vontu 6.0 server. The Blue Coat appliance provides the ability to inspect traffic including HTTP, HTTPS and FTP and then send it to the Vontu server for data loss prevention. The Blue Coat appliance also provides other policy enforcement capabilities, including preventing spyware and malware and accelerating legitimate content.
"We are pleased to be working with Vontu to add key functionality to securing and managing important company information," said Steve Mullaney, vice president of worldwide marketing, Blue Coat Systems. "Our SG appliances provide a platform for visibility, control and acceleration of Web communications. Adding data loss prevention capabilities from Vontu to our ability to manage and view SSL communications enables enterprises to see what has previously been invisible to them and protect against serious business risks."
Vontu and Blue Coat have completed a compatibility testing and certification process to ensure seamless operation. Blue Coat utilizes an enterprise-class implementation of the Internet Content Adaptation Protocol (ICAP) to share information between Vontu 6.0 and the Blue Coat SG appliance. The products are available immediately.
About Blue Coat Systems
Blue Coat secures Web communications and accelerates business applications across the distributed enterprise. Blue Coat's family of appliances and client-based solutions – deployed in branch offices, Internet gateways, end points, and data centers – provide intelligent points of policy-based control enabling IT organizations to optimize security and accelerate performance for all users and applications. Blue Coat has installed more than 25,000 appliances worldwide and is ranked #1 by IDC in the Secure Content and Application Delivery market. Blue Coat is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and can be reached at (408) 220-2200 or www.bluecoat.com.
About Vontu
Vontu is the leading provider of Data Loss Prevention solutions for both data at rest and data in motion. Vontu allows organizations to discover and protect exposed confidential information, monitor all network traffic, block select email, FTP and web communications, and automatically enforce data loss prevention policies. By reducing the frequency and severity of both inadvertent and malicious data loss incidents, Vontu helps organizations ensure public confidence, reduce compliance risk and protect competitive advantage. Vontu customers include Fortune 500 companies in financial services, insurance, high technology, retail, telecommunications, manufacturing, media, and healthcare, as well as state and federal government agencies. Vontu has received numerous awards, including SC Magazine's 2006 U.S. Excellence Award for "Best Enterprise Security Solution" and Global Award for "Best New Security Solution," as well as IDG's InfoWorld 2006 Technology of the Year Award for "Best Insider Threat Defense." For more information, please visit www.vontu.com.
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FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Blue Coat Systems' expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, and including statements regarding the capabilities and expected performance of Blue Coat Systems' products. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based upon information available to Blue Coat Systems as of the date hereof, and Blue Coat Systems assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These and other risks relating to Blue Coat Systems' business are set forth in Blue Coat Systems' most recently filed Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 31, 2006 and Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2005, and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Media contacts:
Steve Schick Investor Contact: Carla Chun
Blue Coat Systems
steve.schick@bluecoat.com
408-220-2076
Blue Coat Systems
carla.chun@bluecoat.com
408-220-2318
Kevin Kosh
CHEN PR, for Blue Coat Systems
kkosh@chenpr.com
781-672-3111
Marianna Vyridi
Horn Group (for Vontu)
mvyridi@horngroup.com
415-905-4021