Purewire, Inc. has announced the availability of its Purewire Web Security Service, a security software-as-a-service (SaaS) that provides protection against malicious people, places, and things on the Web. Purewire says it is the first and only security vendor to protect Web users from where they are going, what they are downloading, and from anyone malicious or fraudulent with whom they are interacting.

Three areas need to be addressed to secure the Web browsing experience: malicious people, places, and things on the Web, according to the company. Ultimately, the gaps in today's enterprise security leave organizations vulnerable to compromise, which can be costly to fix. Constantly evolving threats demand a new approach to security that goes beyond traditional URL filtering. Purewire solves the difficult problems associated with keeping the Web a place where people can be productive and safe, the company says.

"The changes in Web technologies over the last several years, such as user-generated content and AJAX-based applications, require a security approach that goes beyond basic URL filtering," says Brian Burke, program director, Security Products for IDC. "Purewire has taken a unique approach to address the complete Web security problem, particularly with the company's focus on script-based browser attacks and user reputation, which are needed to maintain trust and safety in today's Web environment."

"Today's dynamic and interactive Web environment is the new threat vector of choice, and the security industry as a whole is a decade late in innovating ways to secure the new Web. It's time enterprises start asking, ‘How secure is my Web security?'" says Dr. Paul Judge, co-founder and chief technology officer of Purewire, Inc. "The Purewire Web Security Service integrates sophisticated technology and analysis to bring the highest levels of security, performance and control to Web users in the office or on the go-and trust back to the Web."

Easy Deployment and Administration

The Purewire Web Security Service is deployed as a security SaaS that sits between a company's network and the Internet to protect the company's users as they surf the Web. As an in-the-cloud security SaaS, Purewire inspects outbound Web traffic for safety and compliance, and analyzes Web site response traffic for malicious programs and untrustworthy users. Administrators manage and monitor the Purewire service using a Web-based, user-friendly management application that provides a blend of enterprise-ready and usability features such as directory integration for group--or individual--based policies, pre-defined security policies, and a wealth of security, compliance and usage reports.

First-and-Only Holistic Approach

Based on patent-pending technologies, the Purewire Web Security Service provides the fastest performance, highest security, and easiest manageability on the market, according to the company. It is a comprehensive, customizable, and fully integrated service that is powered by four core technologies:

·       Purewire Sandbox--The advances in Web technologies that provide AJAX-based Web applications as powerful as desktop applications also introduce a new avenue for attacks on the Web browser. The Web is becoming the new operating system, creating a need for a new type of protection. Purewire Sandbox protects the Web browser from script-based attacks, which require no user interaction. This technology is supplemented with a signature-based anti-virus engine and an object-based anti-malware engine.

·       Purewire Reputation--URL filtering is a critical piece of Web security, though categories alone are not enough to provide complete protection. The Purewire service consists of two core components: a traditional URL filtering database that categorizes nearly 100 million active Web sites and a real-time dynamic classification engine that picks up where traditional URL filtering databases leave off, to address the remaining unclassified sites. The Purewire Reputation engine focuses on the actual sites that users are visiting instead of being driven by Web crawlers. Also, since it operates in real time as part of the proxy, it is able to dynamically classify Web sites based on the content of the page. This technology, combined with traditional URL filtering databases, can increase employee productivity and reduce compliance or security risks.

·       Purewire Trust--As end users generate a growing portion of Web content, there is a need to consider the reputation and trustworthiness of the content provider in the security decision. Purewire Trust is the first Web security technology that analyzes user reputation and correlates it against Web reputation and other heuristics for unknown or malicious activity. This helps users be informed before participating in commerce, collaboration or communication with parties that are not trustworthy.

·       Purewire Webcelerator--Users expect the Internet to be fast and always available. Therefore the Purewire Web Security Service utilizes acceleration technology that maintains Internet speeds even as it performs the layers of security analysis needed to protect end-users. The Purewire service infrastructure provides the reliability to ensure uninterrupted availability.