Catbird’s VMShield 2.0® Delivers Virtualization Security Beyond the Firewall with Cloud-ready Policy Configuration and TrustZones Enforcement

SCOTTS VALLEY, CA — (March 4, 2009) – Catbird, the pioneer and leader in security and compliance solutions for virtual and physical networks, today announced the immediate availability of VMShield 2.0® with V-Tracker™. VMShield 2.0 leapfrogs legacy virtual firewall technology to enforce compliance and policy of both network and VM state, regardless of location or movement of VMs. With V-Tracker, VMShield 2.0 combines proven virtual machine tracking capabilities with in-depth monitoring of suspect activity on the network itself; preserves policies across hosts, clusters and vendor platforms; and automatically blocks out-of-policy or compromised VMs from breaching data center security.
VMShield 2.0 with V-Tracker is the latest innovation in Catbird’s comprehensive line of cross-platform, non-invasive security solutions for virtual and physical networks. Catbird’s encyclopedic Virtual Infrastructure Security Engine (VISE™) correlates hundreds of machine attributes with access control, network segmentation, vulnerability and IDP security events for both virtual and physical machines, across multiple clusters and data centers, to deliver broad asset awareness and defense-in-depth. Moreover, VMShield’s internal or external cloud-based platform with stateless monitoring enables unprecedented visibility and control to track virtual machines across clusters and detect and thwart potential security and policy violations before they escalate to a breach.
“VMShield 2.0 is a Robocop for virtual machines,” said Edmundo Costa, Catbird COO. “Tracking migrating virtual machines is good; ensuring they aren’t violating compliance policy or leaking data is priceless. In the virtual world, network segmentation is not enough. Catbird customers are protected against unauthorized or error-prone configuration, malicious network behavior and other unsavory activity via our non-invasive shield - no matter where they are. With Catbird’s cloud-based availability and reliability, virtualization professionals now have the tools to grow their infrastructure quickly and safely.”
Catbird V-Tracker uniquely fingerprints each VM it tracks, even through virtual machine mobility. In combination with Catbird’s ground-breaking TrustZones™ policy enforcer, these machines stay monitored and protected via the Catbird Control Center, validating and enforcing policies for all VMs within a given TrustZone. Catbird’s automated quarantine mechanism instantly shuts down non-compliant virtual machines. The architecture is designed with maximum flexibility and portability to allow for cross-host and cross-platform coverage and ease of use.
VMShield 2.0 delivers a highly-correlated approach to virtualization security, a key capability for TrustZoneTM enforcement and data protection. At its heart is the Catbird VISE, enabling intelligence and protection not possible with simple virtual firewall technology and which goes well beyond simple segmentation and ACLs, including:
• Real-time intelligent state and VM activity monitoring that detects off-policy changes from both VMware-specific controls and network sources based on user-defined policies.
• Intelligent packet filtering and deep packet inspection to detect suspect communication with VMs anywhere on the network or to ferret out contact with external risks such as malware and botnet command and control centers.
• Automatic quarantine and virtual infrastructure controls to prevent rogue or misconfigured VMs from breaching data center security or leaking data to the Internet.
“It takes more than a firewall to secure virtual infrastructure,” said Rachel Chalmers, Research Director, Infrastructure Computing for the Enterprise at the industry analyst firm The 451 Group. “Configuration errors can expose sensitive data. Unwitting mistakes on the part of well-meaning employees can leave organizations exposed. Products like VMshield can validate configuration and enforce security policies even as virtualization is changing the game.”
“Our customers are growing increasingly sensitized to issues of compliance and security in virtual infrastructure” said Herb Goodfellow of Catbird partner Guident, a leading integrator of comprehensive business intelligence and security solutions. “The recent announcement by VMware focusing on this issue, along with great product offerings such as VMShield 2.0, is proof to us that the market is catching up with demand for compliance and policy enforcement within virtual infrastructure.”
VMShield 2.0 with V-Tracker utilizes hypervisor APIs to be VM aware and is also designed for compatibility with Citrix Xenserver® and Microsoft Hyper-V®. Unlike conventional host-based solutions, stateful appliances and proprietary hardware solutions, VMShield 2.0 leverages Catbird’s fully SOA and cloud-based stateless architecture and is 100% plug-and-play, web-enabled, and architected to have minimal impact on the virtual environment itself. VMShield 2.0 is available as part of Catbird’s flagship V-Security™ 2.0. The company is a VMSafeTM partner.
For more information about VMShield 2.0 or V-Security 2.0, visit www.catbird.com.
About Catbird
Catbird is the industry leader in comprehensive security for virtualized and physical environments, and winner of the 2007 VARBusiness Technology Innovator Award for Virtualization, the Windows IT Pro Best of Tech·Ed 2008 IT Pro Editors Choice Award for Security and a Best of Show Finalist at VMworld 2008. Via Catbird V-Security and the Catbird V-Agent virtual appliance, Catbird is the only company delivering best-practice security for Hypervisor, Guest VMs and Policy/Regulatory Security Compliance. As companies migrate mainstream servers and desktops to virtual environments, uncertainty over security and compliance can impact deployment plans. Catbird’s protection eliminates these worries and keeps virtualization plans on track. Founded in 2000 by Internet pioneer Ron Lachman, the company’s in-the-cloud architecture protects thousands of customer systems and networks who rely on Catbird and its partners to protect their valuable IT assets from external and internal threats. The private company is based in Silicon Valley, and is currently recruiting new partners and resellers.

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