Gajshield has been playing a significant role in Indian security market since last few years with its various innovative security solutions. Recently in an interview with ‘InfoSecurity’, Sonit Jain, CEO, GajShield Infotech (I) Pvt. Ltd., has shared company’s strength, strategy and planning for Indian market.

Sonit Jain, CEO, GajShield Infotech (I) Pvt. Ltd.

Q1.       Where is Gajshield's current thrust in security arena?

Insider security threats, intentional or unintentional leak of information are major security concerns for an organization today. As web has become an easy tool for leaking data, enterprises are unable to monitor and block such leaks. GajShield’s thrust is to provide complete visibility on what information is being sent out of the network and how to block sensitive data on being sent out. Many organizations block access to internet for its employees to prevent data leaks as current solutions are unable to provide visibility. We call this as restrictive security. GajShield's DLP engine provides visibility to more than 100+ web applications like Yahoo Mail, Gmail, Hotmail, Rediffmail, Yahoo IM, Yahoo Chat, Gtalk, Orkut, Facebook and many other such applications. It is the only UTM of its kinds to provide visibility into such application and let the enterprise set policies based on these applications. For example, if I want only helpdesk_gajshield@yahoo.com to send mails using Yahoo Mail, you can set a policy to do so. Though all users will have access to Yahoo Mail, only the yahoo id, helpdesk_gajshield@yahoo.com can send mails. All information sent through various channels like HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP and IM is monitored and archived. For example, it archives all walls, chat, scraps sent through various social networking sites like Facebook and Orkut. Policies can be set to prevent certain scraps, chat, scraps to be posted. This thus allows an organisation to make full use of the internet without restricting access to it and yet be assured of complete security. We call this as progressive security.

Q2.       What are the major security challenges in Indian security market and how does Gajshield address those issues?

From large enterprise to SMBs require their data to be protected. GajShield provides Data Visibility and Loss Prevention solution which caters to all businesses. Current data leak solutions are very difficult to implement as organizations need to set policies which will prevent data to be leaked. GajShield provides visibility which helps organization to set these policies. GajShield has already been successful in tracking data leaks in many organizations. Its interface is easy to manage even by a non technical person.

Q3.       How big is the DLP market in India?

The Indian network security market is estimated to be about $250 million USD where DLP has started to gain a significant portion of it. Though DLP is still in its initial stage of awareness, it is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.

Q4.       Where does Gajshield stand today in overall Indian UTM market?

GajShield is the leader in terms of providing data leak prevention system for enterprises. It unique data visibility and web 2.0 loss prevention system make it stand out away from the current ranges of both UTM and data leak prevention system. It is the only UTM to provide policies based on web 2.0 applications thus leading the market for progressive security.

Q5.       Do you have anything unique to offer with your UTM solution?

As stated above, GajShield UTM is the only UTM, to provide data visibility and web 2.0 loss prevention systems. Its unique policy engine allows you to set policies based on web application rising above layer 7, user based and IP based security devices. It allows you to view all data sent to various web mails, social networking site, IM chats, web chats, SMTP mails thus helping an organization to provide internet access to its employees without restricting it.

Q6.       What is your current R&D focus and how is your product roadmap lined up?

GajShield strongly believes that internet provides powerful resources to an organization which should not be restricted. Our R&D is focused towards enhancing enterprise security by adding more Web 2.0 applications to its existing large application interpretation engine. With the walls of an enterprise fading, GajShield is extending its security to mobile devices thus ensuring they adhere to security policies set by an organization.

Q7.       Do you have any solution specifically dedicated for SMBs?

Small and medium organization along with other security needs like antivirus, antispam, content filtering requires protection from data leak. Information being very critical for them, if leaked can be catastrophic. They need solutions which can help them to prevent leaks and is easy to manage. GajShield provides such solution which takes care of all the security needs of an SMB. GajShield has appliances targeting the SMB appliances and we have GS 500A, GS 1100, GS 2100 for the SMB customers. For medium segments we have models GS 3100, GS 4100 and GS 5100 and for enterprise networks we have security models GS 6100, GS 7100 and GS 8100. GajShield’s security appliances incorporate Data Leak Prevention, Application visibility, Firewall, VPN, IPS, URL Filtering, Gateway Antispam, Gateway Antivirus, Anti-spyware/malware protection, Instant Messaging protection, P2P & Web 2.0 application protection, ISP failover and Load-balancing to provide progressive security to SMB, Corporates, Educational and Government institutions.

Q8.       How do you see the managed security services market and how do you address this market?

The managed security services market is growing at a rapid pace. It is estimated to be about $450 million. GajShield with its comprehensive portfolio of products and services enables Managed Security Service Providers to cost-effectively offer the complete security offering to their customers. The intensive visibility and reporting provides a perfect platform to build a managed service.

Q9.       How strong is your technical services team and how advanced technically are they?

We have a strong technical team with expertise in networking, security, applications, operating system, Application vulnerability assessment etc. GajShield invests a significant proportion of its revenue in R&D and we have a state of art Development center in Mumbai. GajShield has a strong core technical team with more than 75 years of combined experience in internet and security technologies. It has experience of managing large enterprise customers like ICICIBank, HSBC InvestSmart, SBI Capital Market, Crisil, CIBIL, Ispat Industries and many more.

Q10.     How do you predict future Indian security market especially after this economic downturn?

We see a good market for security appliances because the downturn has brought forward issues of corporate lay offs, which increases the problem of insider threats. Uncertain times bring lots of security issues as people are disturbed and can react irrationally, attacks camouflaged with false job promises, bogus offers of mortgage loans, low housing prices and cheap buy offers would increase and which poses significant risks to organizations as malware, spyware etc can be embedded into such messages. With the extensive use of Web 2.0 applications it would imperitive for customers to take care of Data Leak along with spams, phishing, viruses, malwares etc. to better protect their network.

—By: Sonit Jain, CEO, GajShield Infotech (I) Pvt. Ltd.