Blueshift Cybersecurity announced a strategic alliance with Cigent Technology that expands cybersecurity protections beyond the conventional bounds of the XDR industry. 

"Adversaries compromise user credentials, clouds, hosted apps, or email to gain unauthorized access to an organization's sensitive data," said Blueshift CTO Greg Scasny. "Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR), and Rights Management (RMS) solutions have failed to slow down runaway ransomware and data theft. Blueshift XDR now includes Cigent's Zero-Trust file access as a service managed by our Security Operations Center (SOC). Protected files remain continuously encrypted and only accessible by trusted users, even when they travel outside an organization."

Sophisticated attackers employ specialized tactics to bypass or disable traditional EDR, DLP, and RMS protections. By contrast, Cigent's embedded protections render sensitive data invisible and inaccessible to all unauthorized parties. Cigent's Zero-Trust access controls employ end-to-end encryption with continuous multi-factor authentication enforced to the individual file level. Integrating Cigent controls enables the Blueshift SOC to instantaneously "lock down" sensitive data during a security event or heightened threat state by triggering these controls centrally. This defensive response can apply to a single system, across a department, or enterprise-wide, including remote workers. And this response can be automated - a heightened threat state can trigger Cigent controls in real-time without human intervention.  

Adding Zero-Trust data protection to the Blueshift XDR platform means that files remain encrypted and only accessible by trusted users, wherever they go: endpoints, cloud, NAS, anywhere. Cigent controls defend sensitive data from zero-day ransomware, advanced malware, fileless malware, living-off-the-land, zero-day, supply chain, firmware, unpatched software, and social engineering attacks. All Cigent-protected files include an organization key so colleagues can seamlessly work on files together: MS Office, Adobe, CAD, images, applications - any file type.

"Attackers can't compromise what they can't see," said Cigent's CEO, John Benkert. "The end-game is to reduce organizational risk, and traditional protections have proven inadequate.  Embedding Cigent's patented data protection into Blueshift XDR provides next-level cybersecurity protection to the most vulnerable market segment - Small and Medium-Sized Businesses."

According to the 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, 43% of all data breaches involve SMBs, with attacks becoming increasingly prevalent. Traditional security solutions are too complex and expensive for SMBs. They also provide inadequate protection, as evidenced by the runaway ransomware crisis. The Blueshift-Cigent alliance moves the goal post by including managed Zero-Trust data security to an XDR platform as a managed service. SMBs can confidently offload cybersecurity responsibilities, while meeting strict compliance mandates, such as CMMC or HIPAA. Blueshift XDR combines fully-managed layered protection, detection, and response capabilities with a highly experienced U.S.-based SOC team.

"Cigent's military-grade data protections were designed to protect data in ultra-sensitive use-cases, such as the Department of Defense (DoD). It's a brilliant move for Blueshift XDR to offer Cigent data protections mapped to NIST, DFARS, and CMMC compliance regulations.  Petronella Cybersecurity Solutions and ComplianceArmor.com Training paired with Cigent create an 'Easy Button' for defense industrial base contractors to accelerate their compliance mandates," said Craig Petronella, CEO of Petronella Technology Group, Inc. "We look forward to working with both companies so we can confidently extend the highest level of security available to our customers and partners."