Authentic8's SILO: The ultimate security solution

There's a company that you should investigate if you're planning a BYOD program at your company or have one already in place. Security is a major barrier to BYOD and a major pain point for companies that want to protect their data and their employee's devices.

[I had the pleasure of meeting with some of the Authentic8 crew at SpiceWorld 2013 on the trade show floor for a demo and at the rooftop party they sponsored at The Hangar. A few days ago, I met via phone with the principles of the company to discuss their Silo app and its highly secure containment.]

The company is Authentic8. It's a startup. It has offices in San Francisco and in Mountain View, California. Its product is Silo. Silo is a secure, cloud-based container that could change the way you work. Its purpose is to control the way you access web-based applications. For those of you who don't like the way most companies implement BYOD programs, you should check out Authentic8's Silo. 

Silo is particularly valuable for mobile workers using personal devices over insecure networks.

In Authentic8's own words:

"Each time they launch Silo, users get a freshly built browsing environment with SSO links to provisioned apps. All web code is contained within Silo, meaning apps are insulated from exploits, and business data is kept separate from personal browsing. Users interact with a benign display of the web app, keeping all web code off the device. And at session end Silo is destroyed along with all transient browsing data, leaving the device and server stateless. With Silo, your web apps live beyond the reach of network, client-side or web borne exploits."

With all of the web-based exploits out there, you can't be too careful. And why deny your employees the freedom of using their own devices due to security concerns. Authentic8 makes browsing and using web applications safe.

In fact, one of the questions I asked the team was, "What happens if the user hits a site that's been compromised? Can it have any negative affect on the user's device?"

The answer is, "No". And the reason is that your web application isn't running on your device. It runs in the cloud, in a sandboxed environment. Your device is not directly attached to the web service in any way. So, imagine the worst, most devious virus or malware possible that's infected a site that you have setup to access in Silo.

Check out a video demonstration of Authentic8's Silo in action.

Access the site. The sandboxed browser might be compromised but it doesn't matter. That browser only exists for the length of your current stay. In other words, should an Internet gremlin bust your site, it's only the site that's busted. Well, that is, if you're accessing that site in Silo. The sandboxed environment is freshly created every time you connect to it.

No cookies are saved to the sandbox. No cookies are saved to your device. No viruses or malware can ever touch your device or go wild in your network. How's that for security?

Do you still fear the prospect of users doing the wrong thing? At some point, some of your users will slip up. Their data, their devices, your data, and your network will be compromised. And it can happen on a user's personal device or one that you supply them. Don't assume that because you supply your employees with phones, computers, and tablets that they're more secure than their personal ones.

You can enable greater security. You can empower your employees. And you can protect your data.

"Any standard web app can be delivered through Silo. Layer in device access, strong authentication and data transfer policies. Delivering your app in Silo takes no custom integration work or changes to your web server infrastructure. Users launch your branded version of Silo to access your app. Manage access and data policies yourself, or delegate it to downstream admins. Silo lets you focus on building a great app while giving you peace of mind about data security."

Currently, Silo only runs on Mac, Windows, and iPad. Developers are currently working on an Android app, so don't despair, help is on the way.

It's easy to try Silo, go to the website, click Try Silo Now and get ready to experience web browsing security like it was meant to be.

To get more info on Authentic8 and Silo:

Web: http://www.authentic8.com

Email: info@authentic8.com

Phone: 1 (877) 659 6535

Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Authentic8

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/authentic8 or @authentic8

Google+: https://www.google.com/+Authentic8

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/authentic8

And if you think you'd like to join Authentic8's crew of cool, hit their jobs link and see if you have what it takes. They're hiring!