Proofpoint extends targeted attack protection

Proofpoint is extending its Proofpoint Targeted Attack Protection solution to enable organizations to safeguard individual social media accounts from advanced malware, social phishing and compliance violations. With this new capability, Proofpoint will protect email, branded social networking pages and key employees’ social media activities from advanced targeted attacks.

“Our research indicates that the same attackers are increasingly using both email and social media vectors to directly target key executives,” said David Knight, executive vice president and general manager of Information Security Products for Proofpoint. “We have seen social media spam and phishing rates increase by more than 300 percent for the last two years. Extending Proofpoint Targeted Attack Protection to social networks allows employees to safely connect with business prospects on social channels.”

A recent Proofpoint study found that Fortune 100 brands are experiencing at least one compromise per business day on their branded social media channels. High-profile social media attacks on major brands, media properties and government agencies, attributed to ISIS and the Syrian Electronic Army, demonstrate how quickly a hack can make headlines. That vulnerability extends to key executives and employees using social media. Now, with one click, employees can activate Proofpoint Targeted Attack Protection for their social media channels to help ensure live protection from account takeovers, social phishing, malicious URLs and compliance violations.

“Adding Proofpoint Targeted Attack Protection for Social Media demonstrates the power of our combined portfolio of capabilities to stop advanced targeted attacks and social phishing,” said Devin Redmond, vice president and general manager of Nexgate for Proofpoint. “Increasingly social networks, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are becoming critical communication channels that require advanced security and compliance controls similar to those applied to email protection.”

Proofpoint Targeted Attack Protection uses the latest in big-data anomaly detection and advanced malware sandboxing to protect users from sophisticated, targeted phishing attacks. Proofpoint Targeted Attack Protection for Social Media will extend the Proofpoint Nexgate capabilities to stop social media users from seeing and clicking on malware, spam and abusive language. Backed by Deep Social Linguistic Analysis (DSLA) classifiers, Proofpoint Targeted Attack Protection for Social Media also will enforce policies to maintain compliance with a wide-range of social media regulatory requirements, including FTC, FINRA, FFIEC, FDA, HIPAA, PHI, SEC, ABA and more.