Vectra® Networks, the leader in real-time detection of in-progress cyber-attacks, today announced it continues to gain industry traction in the higher education market due to its unique ability to detect active cyber attacks and address compliance requirements which are naturally higher with the necessity of BYOD and mobility to foster an open, collaborative environment.
The Vectra automated threat management solution enables it to deliver the secure mobile campus experience students and staff require, while protecting sensitive university and student information from malware and advanced persistent threats. With Vectra, universities have the automated threat management needed to secure private data and address FERPA, HIPAA and PCI compliance concerns from security risks, especially those introduced by the highly mobile nature of students and the university community. Some current higher education customers include Santa Clara University, Barry University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
“Accessing our university’s data is now big business for attackers,” said Sean Michael O’Connor, assistant chief information officer at WPI. “It is crucial for us to make sure that we identify these attacks immediately before they acquire our data. Within the first couple of weeks after deploying Vectra Networks on our network, we were seeing some really interesting activity, including a number of command and control attempts which we were able to shut down before any damage was done. Vectra Networks technology is truly cutting edge in its ability to help us to identify malicious activity that we would have otherwise likely missed.”
In addition to customer traction, Vectra remains active and dedicated to the education sector. President and CEO Hitesh Sheth was named as an advisor to the recently launched Kogod Cybersecurity Governance Center (KCGC) at American University’s Kogod School of Business. The KCGC at American University was launched in September 2015 in response to the growing need for collaborative, objective and multidisciplinary research in cybersecurity governance, enterprise risk management and cyber risk management. These efforts extend across business, legal, public policy and public administration disciplines.
To promote and advance good governance in the preparation for, prevention and detection of, as well as response to, cybersecurity breaches, KCGC Advisory Committee members represent a wide range of leaders from the public sector and private industries, as well as distinguished faculty, all of whom are committed to help shape the Center’s research and education charter.
“It’s widely understood that organizations everywhere have been breached by cyber attacks and the security intelligence world has accepted that many more will be breached,” said Dr. William DeLone, co-executive director of KCGC and Kogod Eminent Professor of Information Technology. “In-depth knowledge of advanced persistent threat (APT) intelligence is critical to the center’s research mission and that is what Vectra brings to the table.
“We are pleased to have Mr. Sheth bring his extensive knowledge and experience in the cybersecurity intelligence field and leadership expertise to guide and champion the Center’s research and education agenda,” he added.
“I am honored to join leaders in industry, government and education to contribute to the cybersecurity research and efforts of the Kogod Cybersecurity Governance Center,” said Hitesh Sheth, president and CEO of Vectra Networks. “Higher education is a very important market for us. Universities across the U.S. have adopted Vectra to mitigate the risks introduced by BYOD in their highly mobile environments and embrace mobile devices as essential and expected tools for learning and collaboration.”
In November 2015, Vectra sponsored and provided equipment for Rochester Institute of Technology’s (RIT) second annual Collegiate Pentesting Competition. The competition allowed students to experience a day in the life of a penetration tester, testing and evaluating computer systems and networks to make sure they are secure from malicious hackers.
For the competition, teams of three to six students interrogated a mock-company’s network. They presented their findings to judges and offered suggestions for mitigating risk. Student teams from RIT, Alfred State College, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Penn State, Syracuse University, Tompkins Cortland Community College, University of New Hampshire, University at Buffalo, and the United States Naval Academy participated in the weekend competition.
Vectra® Networks is the leader in real-time detection of in-progress cyber attacks. The company’s automated threat-management solution continuously monitors internal network traffic to pinpoint cyber attacks as they happen. It then automatically correlates threats against hosts that are under attack and provides unique context about what attackers are doing so organizations can quickly prevent or mitigate loss. Vectra prioritizes attacks that pose the greatest business risk, enabling organizations to make rapid decisions on where to focus time and resources. In 2015, Gartner named Vectra a Cool Vendor in Security Intelligence for addressing the challenges of post-breach threat detection. The American Business Awards also selected Vectra as the Gold Award winner for Tech Startup of 2015. Vectra’s investors include Khosla Ventures, Accel Partners, IA Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, and DAG Ventures. The company’s headquarters are in San Jose, Calif., and it has European operations in Zurich. More information can be found at www.vectranetworks.com.
American University is a leader in global education, enrolling a diverse student body from throughout the United States and nearly 140 countries. Located in Washington, D.C., the university provides opportunities for academic excellence, public service, and internships in the nation’s capital and around the world.
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