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Free security resources for work-from-home employees during the COVID-19 crisis
As the world “shelters in place” amid the COVID-19 crisis, some tech companies are stepping up and offering their products…
As the world “shelters in place” amid the COVID-19 crisis, some tech companies are stepping up and offering their products and services free of charge for a limited time. These offers will help organizations set up and protect remote employees faster. In some cases, vendors are also offering support services to help companies through the set-up and deployment processes.
Keep in mind that most if not all these offers are extended free trials. At some point, you will be expected to pay for these products and services if you decide to continue using them. Even so, the vendors below are helping the global community better cope with the COVID-19 crisis at a time of very high demand for their offerings.
CSO will add new free COVID-19-related services as we learn of them. Vendors offering help may contact CSO using this link.
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Application security
Akamai will provide 60 days of free access to its Business Continuity Assistance Program, which includes it Enterprise Application Access solution. The program is designed to support remote workers and maintain business continuity.
Cloudflare is offering small business free seats to its zero-trust application protection service through September 1. The company will also throw in a 30-minute onboarding session with one of its experts.
Authentication
1Password is removing its 30-days free-trial limit on business accounts for its password management software. Companies can now use 1Password at no cost for six months to manage login credentials.
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Dashlane is providing three months f its Dashlane Premium or Dashlane Business password management product for free to individuals or businesses who don’t already have the service.
Okta will provide its Okta Identity Cloud service for free to new customers for six months, possibly longer if the situation warrants it. The service includes Okta Single Sign-On (SSO) and Okta Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for up to five applications.
Ping Identity is offering six months of free cloud-based SSO and MFA to companies that must support newly remote employees. Existing customers can receive six months of free MFA.
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RSA is offering its RSA SecurID Access product for multi-factor authentication to new customers free for six months. Existing customers can take advantage of RSA’s Business Continuity Option to expand the number of users on RSA SecurID Access without increasing their budget.
SecureAuth is offering its Intelligent Identity Cloud package, which includes MFA and single sign-on capabilities, for free until December 15, 2020.
Email security
GreatHorn is offering 60 days of free access to its GreatHorn Email Security threat detection and remediation platform to organizations facing disruptions due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Encryption
Beachhead Solutions is offering free additional licenses to current managed service provider (MSP) customers of its Simply Secure service. This will allow them to support an increase in remote workers within their client bases. Beachhead offers cloud-managed PC and mobile device encryption, security and data access control. MSP customer must submit a request to support@beachheadsolutions.com and channelteam@beachheadsolutions.com with the number of licenses needed and for which clients.
PreVeil is offering its encrypted email and file-sharing solutions for free to critical infrastructure organizations on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. This includes federal, state and local governments and agencies; first responders and crisis management teams, and healthcare non-profits.
Endpoint protection
AppGuard is offering its AppGuard Solo endpoint protection solution free of charge for the next 90 days to business that need to support more remote workers.
Crowdstrike is offering two ways to extend protection of company and employee-owned devices through May 16, 2020. Its Burst Licensing program allows customers to increase license counts at no cost, and Falcon Prevent for Home Use will allow new and existing customers to protect employees’ devices for free.
Morphisec will provide free licenses for remote employees of its Unified Threat Prevention platform through June 1.
PC Matic is making its suite of enterprise endpoint protection and remote management tools available at no charge to Massachusetts-based companies implementing work-from-home policies. Those companies must have 10 or more remote workstations. The offer is valid through June 30, 2020, and includes on boarding and support services.
SentinelOne is offering free access to its endpoint protection and endpoint detection and response platform through May 16, 2020. The company will also provide remote deployment assistance.
Fraud protection
The AuthoritiNetwork is making its Permission Code-based payments fraud protection service available at no cost to state and local governments.
Healthcare-specific offers
Adelia Risk is offering its HIPAA Mail free for 60 days for all new US clients. It provides HIPAA-compliant Google apps such as Gmail and Google Drive, encrypted email, and spam and phishing protection.
Awake Security is offering 60 days of free access to its network traffic analysis platform to hospitals and healthcare organizations to help identify ransomware and other cyber threats from slowing the COVID-19 response.
Bitdefender is offering up to 12 months of free enterprise protection of devices for all healthcare organizations.
Imprivata is making its Imprivata Confirm ID for Remote Access enterprise multi-factor authentication solution free for all users at healthcare organizations.
LuxSci is offering its secure email service for free for the next two months for companies that need to send HIPAA-compliant health/safety-related email. It will send up to 25,000 emails per month, and might extend the two-month window if the crisis continues.
TigerConnect will provide its secure healthcare communications platform free of charge to US-based health systems and hospitals to support COVID-19 related communications. New customers can get up to six months of the TigerConnect secure texting service, while existing customers can expand their TigerConnect Essentials licenses for up to six months.
Incident response
Varonis has formed a COVID-19 Cyber Task Force that provides, among other things, help with incident response. Varonis is also offering a free evaluation licenses of its Data Security Platform for an unspecified amount of time.
Network security
AppGate is offering a free 90-day Software-Defined Perimeter Pilot to companies implementing work-at-home initiatives.
Cisco Webex has expanded its free offerings to include security services for remote employees through July 1, 2020. Those services include Cisco Umbrella to protect users from malicious websites (now free for 90 days), Duo Security to verify users’ identities and establish device trust, and Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client to allow employees to work from anywhere. For the latter two, (existing customers can now exceed their user limit and new customers can get free access.
Fortinet is making its FortiClient VPN solution free of charge for secure remote access.
ZeroTier offers open-source SDKs and tools to set up software-defined networks that can support remote workers. There is no fee for most uses.
Remote access
Banyan Security is offering free usage of its Zero Trust Remote Access product for a limited time to new customers supporting remote workers.
BlackBerry is making its suite of secure communications products available for free for 60 days to companies transitioning employees to work remotely. This includes BlackBerry Desktop for remote access, BlackBerry Protect for endpoint protection, and SecuSUITE Government for secure messaging and calls.
Block Armour is making the trial version of its Zero Trust remote access solution fully functional rather than a sandbox. It’s also waiving the ost of the Block Armour Secure Shield controller.
Ericom is offering a free 60-day license of its Ericom Connect product, which gives browser-based access to business applications, and Ericom Shield Zero Trust for up to 100 employees.
ManageEngine is making its remote access security tools freely available until July 1, 2020, to companies needing to support more remote workers.
Remote management
Addigy is providing its device management platform for Apple devices free for 60 days to businesses, schools, and MSPs. The platform will allow organizations to remotely update security settings, software, and more.
Risk assessment
Illusive Networks is offering a free remote attack risk assessment to help identify vulnerabilities in networks reconfigured to support more remote workers.
Security awareness and training
Lucy Security has created a website with free videos, courses, checklists and guides to train work-at-home employees to identify phishing scams and other security threats.
The SANS Security Awareness division of the SANS Institute has created the Securely Working from Home deployment kit. The free kit packages public and paid training SANS resources and is designed to give security awareness staff a step-by-step guide on how to rapidly deploy a training program for remote staff.
Threat intelligence
King & Union, ThreatConnect, and D3i have formed a coalition to provide a collaboration platform and threat intelligence services free for an indefinite time to commercial and government organizations shifting to a remote workforce.
Web security
ImmuniWeb has added features from its paid product to its free community offering for web and mobile security testing. It is also offering free services and solutions to organizations that are migrating their workflows to the digital space and meet certain requirements.
Netsparker is providing free team licenses of its web vulnerability scanning tool to certain organizations including government entities, medical equipment providers, news producers, vaccine and medical research facilities, patient care organizations, hospitals, first responders, and food delivery.
Wireless protection
Minim will provide four months of its Minim for Remote Workers home security and managed WiFi platform for free to individuals and companies. Minim claims its platform will protect against router attacks, ransomware, network intrusions and other common malware.