TMCnet News
Carahsoft Delivers Akamai Enterprise Threat Protector to Center for Internet Security to Protect Private Hospitals from Malicious AttacksRESTON, Va., April 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, today announced that Akamai’s Enterprise Threat Protector (ETP) has been selected by the Center for Internet Security® (CIS®) to provide a carrier-grade recursive Domain Name System (DNS) through CIS’ Malicious Domain Name Blocking and Reporting (MDBR) program to private hospitals at no cost. MDBR is fully funded by a $1 million investment from CIS as a complement to a similar federally funded pilot program CIS manages for public hospitals that are members of the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center® (MS-ISAC®). Akamai’s ETP provides an additional layer of cybersecurity protection that is proven, effective and easy for organizations to deploy. The technology, which is built on the Akamai Intelligent Edge Platform, proactively prevents enterprises, workers and systems from connecting to harmful web domains, helping to limit infections related to known malware, ransomware, phishing and other cyber threats. This capability can block the vast majority of ransomware infections just by preventing the initial outreach to a ransomware delivery domain. Ransomware has emerged as one of the largest cyber threats to U.S. hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2020, the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Health and Human Services (HHS), and the FBI issued a joint advisory around an increased and imminent threat of ransomware attacks that could result in data theft and the disruption of healthcare services. “Today’s threat landscape has increased dramatically in terms of sophistication and scope over the last year, making it all the more important for hospitals to defend their patients, employees and systems,” said Michael Shrader, Vice President of Intelligent and Innovative Solutions at Carahsoft, which provides Akamai ETP to CIS for both its public and private sector hospital programs. “Akamai offers a platform with the right combination of innovative technology, along with the ability to scale quickly that will offer enhanced security for hospitals and help ensure continuity of operations.” In response to the heightened cyber threat against the healthcare system and the crucial importance of protecting and maintaining continuity of patient care and operations, CIS is providing this service immediately at no cost to a wide range of U.S.-based healthcare organizations, including independent hospitals; multi-hospital systems; hospital-based integrated health systems; post-acute patient care facilities; and psychiatric, rehabilitation, and other specialty hospitals. “CIS is offering this defensive solution as part of our mission to make the connected world a safer place,” said Ed Mattison, CIS Executive Vice President, Operations and Security Services. “Our board made the decision to fully fund this program ourselves at no cost, and with no strings attached for hospitals in the U.S. because a powerful, easy to implement solution is critically needed to protect our healthcare system.” From its inception, CIS reports the following progress:
“The Akamai Enterprise Threat Protector service was designed to provide a quick and simple way for organizations to add an additional layer of proactive security by leveraging our edge platform and real-time threat intelligence based on our unprecedented visibility of DNS traffic,” said Jonathan Morgan, Vice President, Network Security Product Management, Akamai. “The fact that CIS was able to fund this program at no cost to private hospitals is a game changer in helping these organizations to quickly and easily improve their security posture.” Akamai ETP can be implemented in minutes with a simple change to DNS configuration and without additional hardware or software. It does not interfere with the ongoing operations of the hospital or patient care. The Akamai ETP solution is available through Carahsoft to private and public sector hospitals. For more information, contact the Akamai Team at Carahsoft at (877) 925-2624 or [email protected]. To learn more and sign up for CIS’s MDBR service for U.S. private and public hospitals visit: https://www.cisecurity.org/hospitals/. About Carahsoft About Akamai About CIS Contacts Jason Forget |