Venn Unveils Secure Enclave Tech To Control Remote Computers

For years, companies have managed their employees’ phones using mobile device management software (MDM), but they haven’t had the same control over their PCs. This is about to change according to Venn Software.

The company announced on Wednesday a patented technique for securing remote working on any computer using a lightweight application that establishes a secure enclosure on a computer. The data inside the enclave are encrypted and the applications that run in the enclave operate securely.

David Matalon Co-Founder and CEO of Venn said, “It is a new and radically simplified alternative to virtual desktops infrastructure.”

Venn lets the company control the secure enclave on the computer. This enclave is where all work takes place. All data is encrypted and the company controls access. Work applications are run on laptops in a similar way to MDM, except that they run within an enclave. This is where all business activity takes place, and it’s protected from personal usage.

Matalon told TechNewsWorld it is not necessary to secure the entire laptop, but only its enclave. He explained that “work gets done in an enclave and the user will see a border of blue around the specific application windows.”

“You won’t be forced to use a virtual environment that has high latency and frustrates the users,” he said.

He said that employers no longer have to provide laptops for employees. They can bring their own. The enterprise can also ensure that its data is safe and comply with its obligations.

Virtual Pain in Buns

Venn announced US$29 Million in Series A Funding led by NewSpring to support product development, growth and customer demand.

Hart Callahan from NewSpring Partners said, “David and his team realized the issues associated with distributed workers in 2019.”

He continued: “Prior Venn, the team helped hundreds financial organizations overcome security and compliance issues for remote employees. It became apparent that traditional VDI technologies were not up to the challenges of a new workforce.

Matthew Psencik’s, Director of Endpoint Security at Tanium.

He told TechNewsWorld: “But, historically they have been under-resourced with resources and configured to make it difficult for employees to use them.”

When faced with poor performance and roadblocks like not being allowed to copy and past, many employees take the route of least resistance, and will try and circumvent VDI by either using personal devices or accidentally leaking information via third-party web sites, he said.

“The benefits of this approach rarely outweigh the negatives — even before considering the employee sentiment impacts due to a frustrating working environment that could lead to employee retention issues or worse, a disgruntled employee going out of their way to harm the business,” he added.

Trouble Ticket Generator

Erich Kron is a security advocate at KnowBe4.

He told TechNewsWorld that if a virtual machine was infected by a virus it could be quickly destroyed and recreated, allowing workers to get back to work within a short time.

He said that virtual desktops have limited capabilities, and can be accessed via the network. This reduces the risk of malware or other endpoint threats damaging the system.

But he also said that virtual desktops could be less customizable. If not set up properly, they can create a poor user experience, leading to more trouble tickets.

Dror Liwer said that convincing an employee to install company-managed software on a personal device is a difficult task for any management tool. CoroA cloud-based cybersecurity firm based in Tel Aviv.

He told TechNewsWorld that employees must be confident that their device will not be harmed by the software and that their company won’t spy on them.

Matalon mentioned that Venn developed its PC management program with performance as a priority. He said that there was no latency.

Easy Offboarding

Matalon also cited the ease with which employees can be offboarded as a benefit of Venn. “It is very useful for organizations that have a high employee turnover.” He said that you can press a single button and wipe out the entire enclave.

Kron noted that “the ability to remotely wipe out and monitor the status on remote PCs is an important tool for most organizations, particularly now that remote work is so prevalent.”

Shawn Surber, Tanium’s Senior Director of Technical Accounts Management, says that to effectively manage security risks, administrators must have constant visibility and control of those devices.

He told TechNewsWorld: “They cannot be left to only be checked or managed once a month or once a year, when they are connected to a VPN.” “Remote PCs need effective real-time management tools such as software deployment, vulnerability monitoring, and incident management.”

Venn claims that its new product fills a gap in the management of mobile devices and PCs, but this gap may not be quite as large as suggested.

Paddy Harrington is a senior analyst at Gartner. He said that most of these MDM platforms have evolved into endpoint management platforms. Forrester Research.

“These solutions can handle most if not all of the PC management functions for the variety of PC-style devices — Windows, Mac, Chromebook — that many businesses are deploying for remote workers,” he told TechNewsWorld.

Roger Grimes is the KnowBe4 Defense Expert. He says that computer platforms have had security risk management tools for decades.

TechNewsWorld reported that Microsoft’s customers can manage devices with group policies, registry edits or PowerShell. “MDM isn’t as powerful as its PC-based counterparts.”