Australia first to get DiData Blue Coat cloud security service

Australian businesses are the first to experience Dimension Data and Blue Coat's new managed cloud web security service (WebSaaS) offering, with the service rolling out now.

Dimension Data says the offering, which extends web security controls to the cloud and screens inbound and outbound web traffic and provides real-time protection, will be expanded to Europe, Asia, the United States and the Middle East and Africa over the coming months.

The new offering blends Blue Coat's cloud-generation security solutions with Dimension Data's global managed security services portfolio in an effort to tackle the explosion of connected devices and use of cloud applications and services which place organisations' most critical corporate data into cloud environments.

Matthew Gyde, Dimension Data group executive for security, says Australia was chosen to receive the service first given its well documented cyber security talent shortage and because the country is an early adopter of cloud services.

"Australia's population, and its isolation, means there's only a limited number of very skilled resources available in the market and the demand for security expertise is only increasing while business models are adapting to the digital economy," Gyde says.

"In the increasingly connected world of social media, mobility and cloud, the need for better intelligence and insight has never been greater as the traditional 'perimeter' as we knew it no longer exists.

"Today, enterprises must be able to defend an employee, wherever they and their internet-connected devices go.

Andrew Littleproud, Blue Coat Asia Pacific vice president, says the offering provides customers a way to safely and easily transition to the cloud when the need arises.

"We are focused on enabling our customers to maintain visibility and control over their users and data across all devices, networks and applications while ensuring a robust security posture," Littleproud says.

The web security-as-a-service offering includes real-time advanced threat protection using Blue Coat's Cloud Service, cloud application controls, URL filtering, mobile security and universal policy and reporting across hybrid deployments to provide simple, unified management.