Acquisition will enhance security suite to better protect today’s workforce that works from anywhere and on any device
1Password, provider of the most-used enterprise password manager, announced the acquisition of Kolide, a leader in device health and contextual access management, enabling businesses to meet the rising security challenges of the modern workforce that now works from anywhere and on any device.
Read More: How Cloud Computing Reshapes Banking and Finance
“We’ve witnessed a historic transformation of the workplace that demands transformative and intuitive new security solutions”
“We’ve witnessed a historic transformation of the workplace that demands transformative and intuitive new security solutions,” said Jeff Shiner, CEO, 1Password. “With today’s anywhere, any device workforce, businesses need to ensure that only approved users on trusted devices can access company applications. Adding Kolide’s contextual access management and device health capabilities to the 1Password security suite will help businesses of all sizes close gaps in their security posture and achieve Zero Trust access objectives.”
The hybrid workforce is here to stay, and traditional security solutions fail to meet the new challenges of “any device, anywhere” work. According to Kolide’s 2023 Shadow IT Report, 47% of companies allow unmanaged devices to access company resources–devices that could be infected with malware or belong to bad actors. Businesses need to ensure that they trust the right device attempting to access company applications. This requires assessing the security context of every sign-on and device to determine in real time whether to grant access to the application.
Kolide allows businesses to understand and manage the security risks associated with the new reality of work. The solution provides contextual access management, allowing companies to prevent unknown or unsecure devices from accessing applications. Kolide customers include Databricks, Robinhood, Discord, Anduril, and more.
Latest CIO Influence Article: Understanding Alpha Ransomware and its Operational Framework
Kolide goes further than merely blocking employees from logging in if their device isn’t secure; Kolide also gets them unblocked and swiftly back to work. When Kolide detects a device health risk, it blocks the access attempt and guides the user through self-remediation steps to restore the device to a trusted state, without the involvement of IT or security teams. The ability for employees to quickly and directly remediate issues is essential to ensuring devices, particularly unmanaged ones, remain up-to-date and healthy.
“If you can find a zero trust approach and model which improves user experience, it’s an easy one for everyone to get behind. It’s a business enabler which brings good security as well. There are a few products that really do that. And Kolide is one of the really obvious ones,” said Michael Tock, Director Enterprise Security, Databricks.
Employee actions impact business security. Errant employee behaviors create potential security risks, and positive employee behaviors strengthen posture; but legacy security providers have focused primarily on securing systems. 1Password and Kolide share a dedication to building security solutions that respect employee privacy, enhance employee productivity, and empower employees to proactively address security issues. With this acquisition, 1Password builds on its strength of enlisting employees in closing access security gaps and advances its mission of building a safer, more secure future for businesses of all sizes. The entire Kolide team will join 1Password as part of the acquisition.
“Kolide was founded on the idea of Honest Security, a philosophy that, when combined with the principles of Zero Trust, transforms end users into the most effective security solution IT will ever have,” said Jason Meller, CEO and founder of Kolide. “We are combining forces with 1Password for one reason: we both believe every company needs user-focused device security. With 1Password, we now have the resources to make that belief a reality.”
Latest CIO Influence Article: Top 10 Application Security Trends for CIOs in E-commerce
[To share your insights with us as part of editorial or sponsored content, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]
