Ctera Fortifies and Simplifies Enterprise File Sharing and Data Protection Tools

CTERA Networks, Ltd. announced a series of security and user experience enhancements to its Enterprise File Services Platform designed to fortify and simplify the enterprise file sync and share (EFSS) and endpoint backup experience.

The Enterprise File Services Platform is a private cloud IT-as-a-Service platform for storing, syncing, sharing, protecting and governing data across endpoints, remote offices and servers. Deployed entirely behind the firewall leveraging any private or Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) infrastructure, the company’s platform delivers high level of information security, data privacy and data sovereignty demanded by enterprises.

The newly announced product enhancements to company’s endpoint services are the byproduct of firm’s collaboration with financial institutions, multinational companies, government agencies and service providers. They underscore company’s focus on meeting and exceeding the requirements of the world’s most security-conscious organizations that cannot implement public/shared SaaS solutions.

Among dozens of updates to firm’s endpoint solutions, following represent major highlights:

IT Security/Administration
Native mutual authentication with support for smart cards/client certificates. Developed for military application as part of the DoD/DISA storage modernization contract with WWT, the company’s platform now enables end-users to mutually authenticate themselves using government-issued Common Access Cards (CAC). This military-grade multi-factor authentication process provides additional assurance that only intended DoD users can access and share files.

Enhanced data loss prevention (DLP) capability.
External file sharing and collaboration functionality reduces leakage of sensitive data by enabling IT administrators to:

Disallow external file sharing with specific domains according to an IT-defined security policy based on user profiles or groups
Offer a preview-only method of file sharing, where users cannot download, print, or copy certain files shared with them
Mitigate the risks of document screen capture by displaying the recipient’s name as a watermark on the document preview

User experience

A redesigned, highly intuitive mobile app. Company’s Mobile is five times faster and supports mobile editing of files. Files and photos are now natively stored directly into EFSS via any mobile application.
Self-service migration between PCs and Macs. Firm’s Endpoint Backup now offers a workstation replacement functionality that enables users to seamlessly migrate between different devices and OSs without IT administrator intervention. A user can replace a Windows laptop, for example, with a Mac OS X laptop, minimizing the complexity of IT desktop support in a multi-OS environment. This functionality also ensures that contacts, calendars, email accounts, and more are placed in appropriate locations on the new machine.
Expanded Mac integrations for improved user productivity now provides:
Integration with OS X Spotlight to easily locate documents, images, and more
Right-click backup and file sharing options
Firm agent notifications displayed in the Mac Notification Center
An automated product tutorial for first-time users of the firm’s Platform. The walkthrough helps users to become familiar with the company’s interface and file management tools.

Company’s endpoint file services are WAN-optimized using source-based global deduplication and an ‘incremental-forever’ backup and sync functionality, and feature end-to-end AES 256-bit data encryption both at-rest and in-flight where enterprises are the sole owner of their data and encryption keys. Data is stored in the public or private data center of choice to alleviate all privacy, security, and data sovereignty concerns.

“Security and user experience are equally paramount for CTERA, and we work tirelessly to ensure that our endpoint solutions offer the best of both worlds for our customers,” said Jeff Denworth, SVP, marketing, CTERA. “CTERA uniquely fills a void created in the enterprise market by public SaaS solutions that cannot offer total privacy, security, compliance, and ownership of organizational data. The enhancements announced go beyond enterprise-grade to now military-grade, offering the industry’s most secure approach to file collaboration and data protection.“

Resources:
Blog post: Endpoint Update 2016
Endpoint updates: A comprehensive listing of all new features
Free Trial for 60 days
Webinar – June 30, 2016: Updates to CTERA EFSS and Endpoint Backup