Raytheon Unveils Security Spinoff ‘Forcepoint’

Longtime defense solution provider Raytheon (RTN) has named its security spinoff Forcepoint and unveiled a number of new products as part of the company’s launch, with the goal of bring cybersecurity inspired by the defense industry to the global commercial market.

Forcepoint combines assets and technology from three entities, including Raytheon’s own cybersecurity products as well as solutions from Websense and Stonesoft. (Raytheon purchased an 80 percent stake in Websense last year, and announced its acquisition of Stonesoft in October).

Forcepoint aims to provide security for the new “transformative” technology paradigm in which multiple devices will connect via the cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT), thus protecting technologies on all attack fronts, the company said in a press release.

This will be achieved through a unified, cloud-centric platform that safeguards users, networks and data while eliminating the inefficiencies involved in managing a collection of point security products, according to Forcepoint.

“Forcepoint’s platform empowers organizations to concentrate on business execution and growth knowing that their data is being protected in the cloud, on the road and in the office,” said Forcepoint CEO John McCormack, in a statement. “Our approach is to provide an unparalleled platform to defend against attacks, detect suspicious activity sooner and give the context needed to decide what actions to take to defeat the attack and stop the theft of data.”

As part of the debut of Forcepoint, the company is also launching three new products that address insider threats, provide cloud-based protection of Microsoft Office 365, and offer distributed next-generation network security, respectively.

Forcepoint’s new SureView Insider Threat 8.0 provides an early-warning system that automatically identifies the riskiest users within an organization based on their behaviors as well as from information received by Forcepoint’s data-loss prevention solution, TRITON AP-DATA, the company said.

Meanwhile, Forcepoint TRITON is now natively hosted in Microsoft Azure to enforce DLP for Microsoft Exchange Online in Office 365 directly from Microsoft’s own cloud.

In its third new product release, Forcepoint’s Stonesoft NGFW—which includes Common Criteria certification–provides network security, including visibility, responsiveness and policy enforcement across hundreds or thousands of locations with a single management console, according to Forcepoint. The product was included in the company’s acquisition of Stonesoft next-generation firewall and Sidewinder proxy firewall technologies and teams from Intel Security.