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ScanSafe launches Anywhere for roaming employees

ScanSafe, a web security services provider with offices in the US and the UK, has announced the availability of Anywhere , a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model that provides real-time protection to employees using the internet anywhere outside their office.

Anywhere is delivered as an add-on service for £1 per user per month. The service redirects all inbound and outbound web traffic to the nearest scanning datacentre in ScanSafe's network. The traffic is scanned and filtered in real-time at the datacentre. It encrypts all web traffic over standard secure sockets layer to prevent data interception when the employees are roaming or when remote users access the web from public networks.

According to ScanSafe, Anywhere can be deployed rapidly and activated through a lightweight driver. It does not require a 50 MB download capacity or constant updates.

The software supports administrator-created authentication keys, facilitating an easy rollout to several PCs. It works with existing virtual private network (VPN), desktop security clients and internal proxies and enables seamless roaming between different network interfaces including wired, wireless and 3G networks.

Dan Nadir, vice president, product strategy, ScanSafe, said:

'Users who surf unprotected while 'on the road' often return with malware-infected laptops that can expose the corporate network to data theft. Businesses of all sizes identify remote and roaming workers as one of the biggest weaknesses in their corporate web security. With Anywhere it is finally possible to protect remote users wherever they are working without introducing latency, increased support or other administrative headaches.'

Scansafe claims to have found in a worldwide survey conducted in December 2007 that 95% of respondents reported at least 10% of their staff worked remotely on a regular basis. About 45% reported they had been hit by a security threat as a result of a roaming worker's use of their laptop in the last 12 months. About 65% of respondents reported instances of roaming workers tampering with or disabling security features on their laptop when working remotely.

According to ScanSafe, Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems has been trialing Anywhere . Paul Jennings, network administrator, Sumitomo, said:

'Prior to Anywhere , we used end point solutions to ensure a secure connection along with desktop anti-virus to provide malware protection for roaming employees. However, this didn't allow users to safely surf the internet from anywhere.'