Government agencies experienced a number of damaging, high-profile security breaches in 2015, including the notorious attack on the Office of Personnel and Management, which compromised the sensitive information of millions of federal employees.
To tackle this increasingly damaging cybersecurity crisis, Avnet Government Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of leading global technology distributor Avnet Inc., recently released a portfolio of new Security-as-a-Service solutions aimed at the public sector.
Through its partnership with IBM, Avnet Government Solutions business partners can now access IBM’s full suite of security services, known collectively as “AGS SaaS Protect.” These services-based solutions include IBM’s BigFix for endpoint protection, QRadar security analytics platform and Guardium data security platform.
“Avnet Government Solutions has demonstrated that they have the capabilities to help us take our government business to a new level, and their addition of IBM’s portfolio of security products will help us in our commitment to providing our customers with better managed and protected data,” said Tanyalynnette Palmo, CEO, GreenWave Technology Corp. “GreenWave places the utmost importance on the security, insight and control of our customers’ data infrastructures, and IBM’s security offerings will help safeguard and manage them.”
AGS SaaS Protect is designed to facilitate greater endpoint protection for laptops, workstations, and servers used by individuals within an organization. According to a recent study from MeriTalk, a public-private partnership focused on improving the outcomes of government IT, found that 44 percent of federal government endpoints are unknown or unprotected.
The study determined that despite the explosion in the number of endpoints as more and more Internet-enabled devices, federal agencies are not taking the necessary steps to secure their endpoints. Nearly one-third have experienced endpoint breaches due to advanced persistent threats or zero-day attacks.
One Avnet Government Solutions partner, GreenWave Technology Corp., a leading provider of computer and network security, is using AGS SaaS Protect on IBM Cloud for better endpoint management.
“Avnet Government Solutions has demonstrated that they have the capabilities to help us take our government business to a new level, and their addition of IBM’s portfolio of security products will help us in our commitment to providing our customers with better managed and protected data,” said Tanyalynnette Palmo, CEO, GreenWave Technology Corp. “GreenWave places the utmost importance on the security, insight and control of our customers’ data infrastructures, and IBM’s security offerings will help safeguard and manage them.”
Avnet Government Solutions’ business partners will be able to leverage Avnet’s technology portfolio and subscription-based security offerings. Additionally, since these solutions are offered through Avnet Government Solutions in a services-based model, easy access is provided for partners looking to deploy security solutions built on IBM technology and delivered to the federal and state, local and education spaces. IBM’s security software portfolio will now be available through the cloud for Avnet customers.
“With its flexibility and ability to more easily visualize analytics associated with security incidents, cloud is proving to be a real game-changer in the fight against cybercrime,” said Scott Ryan, North America vice president, IBM Security Systems. “Our relationship with Avnet Government Solutions in the US public sector combined with trusted IBM Security expertise will deliver unparalleled security intelligence with reduced complexity for Avnet’s valued partners and government agencies looking for innovative approaches to solving security challenges.”
