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21 Jul 2011

Global IT security and data protection firm Sophos and BlockMaster, the leading provider of managed secure USB drives, have signed a new OEM agreement to integrate Sophos’s leading anti-virus technology into SafeConsoleReady secure USB flash drives.

Some of today’s most prevalent forms of malware use USB drives as a key distribution mechanism, since conventional USB flash drives and other removable storage devices allow viruses, worms and other malicious code to penetrate systems. BlockMaster provides active security such as hardware encryption, strong password authentication and active measures against zero day attacks.

Through this new agreement, Sophos’s anti-virus technology complements and enhances the existing levels of security inherent in on SafeConsoleReady Devices, such as BlockMaster’s SafeStick and Kingston’s DTVP-M and DT4000-M, by preventing the spread of malware. The product is completely transparent to users and is extremely easy to maintain because of the tight integration of the Sophos anti-virus technology with the central management system SafeConsole.

Mike Rogers, VP of Global OEM and Strategic Alliances at Sophos said: “Today, businesses need their employees to be able to securely carry, access and share data rapidly through a variety of methods, both in the office and on the move. IT teams need to put sophisticated layers of protection in place in order to be able to provide a complete defence against malware, data loss and other attacks. Protecting USB sticks from malware is an important element in any comprehensive security strategy and Sophos is delighted to be partnering with BlockMaster to provide built-in anti-virus protection to all brands of SafeConsoleReady secure USB drives.”

Anders Kjellander, CSO at BlockMaster, commented: “This was how anti-virus for USB was meant to be, centrally managed and easy for the end user. Sophos’s anti-virus solution is non-intrusive for the end user and doesn’t get in the way of everyday business. The on-access scanning of the onboard anti-virus scanner extends and enhances the anti-malware qualities already present on SafeConsoleReady devices such as the Kingston DTVP-M, the DT4000-M (FIPS 140-2) and SafeStick, ensuring that workers are protected at all times. And setup, deployment and maintenance are easily handled remotely by the SafeConsole server administrator.”

Sophos Anti-Virus can be purchased from BlockMaster as an add-on to the SafeConsole server licence with discounts available for existing Sophos customers.