Varonis DatAnywhere Enables Secure, Private Cloud Style File Sharing

Varonis Systems Inc., provider of data governance software, announced Varonis DatAnywhere, which extends the usability of corporate file sharing infrastructure to enable traditional file servers and NAS devices to behave like cloud-based file synchronization services (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive).

Users will have the same collaboration experience that cloud services provide, but organizations will not actually have to move data into the cloud, nor will they need to manage an additional user directory, or manage a different set of permissions. DatAnywhere automatically and securely syncs files from corporate file shares to and from remote employee laptops and devices, authenticates with corporate directory services and gives employees the ability to securely share files with co-workers and external business partners.

Cloud-based content sharing services are widely used by consumers, but they can be unsettling for organizations because of the data protection and management ramifications they carry. With the rise of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), amounts of data are leaking onto devices outside of enterprise controls and audit trails. Organizations are clearly aware of this issue, according to a recent survey conducted by Varonis of over 450 IT professionals, 78% want to use their existing storage infrastructure for sharing digital content.

"File sync services are widely used by consumers, but when employees use them without controls, the risks are enormous. Employees need to collaborate, to share files, wherever they are doing their work, but organizations shouldn’t have to sacrifice data security or let storage capacity go to waste to enable collaboration. Varonis DatAnywhere is designed to give employees and organizations the digital collaboration they need to be successful, while maximizing existing security and storage infrastructure investments," said Yaki Faitelson, CEO, president and co-founder of Varonis.

• With DatAnywhere, organizations can now offer the cloud experience with their existing infrastructure: File synchronization with existing CIFS shares over HTTPS
• Adherence with existing directory Services and CIFS permissions
• Synchronization Lists and Multiple device profiles
• Extranet capability
• Distributed scalability

"A large number of organizations are struggling to foster collaboration between partners, customers and employees across the corporate firewall, without sacrificing security, availability and manageability," said Brad Shimmin, principal analyst, Collaboration Platforms with Current Analysis. "While cloud-based solutions are steadily improving, an immediate and straightforward answer resides in deploying premises-based software capable of providing the experience of a cloud service while keeping precious data in the enterprise."

By using file synchronization with existing CIFS shares over HTTPS organizations can provide the cloud experience (file synchronization services) within minutes, without moving their data to the cloud, without configuring new access controls, and with almost no additional infrastructure. No data needs to be moved from existing file shares or migrated to a proprietary repository, and users can seamlessly collaborate with users that still access traditional CIFS shares via mapped drives or UNC paths. DatAnywhere provides a software proxy system that translates traditional LAN protocols (CIFS) to HTTPS for fast, secure remote access over the internet, upholding existing authentication (Active directory) and authorization (CIFS/NTFS permissions).

The Adherence with existing directory Services and CIFS permissions means that no additional authentication, authorization processes or permissions configuration will be required. Users will be able to authenticate with Active directory, and existing authorization from CIFS permissions will be enforced. No additional authentication, authorization processes or permissions configuration will be required.

Synchronization Lists allow organizations to control what data resides on employee remote devices. End users can easily sync data they need to perform their role. The lists enable groups of shares for synchronization to be created on personal and organizational levels, and to have multiple device profiles to enable synchronization of different data with different devices.

DatAnywhere’s extranet capability enables organizations to collaborate safely with 3rd parties without moving data to the cloud. End users can share files and folders with business partners securely including read only or read/upload configurations, with expiration dates.

Distributed Scalability is provided by a supporting infrastructure flexible enough for all organizations – from small, to large distributed, with no single point of failure. DatAnywhere consists of three components that can reside on one or multiple servers, a proxy server, a sync manager, and a sync worker.