SpiderOak Releases Private Cloud Services for SMBs, Enterprise

Cloud backup and storage provider SpiderOak announced the discharge of SpiderOak Blue, an individual enterprise-class cloud storage system with a “zero-knowledge” privacy guarantee, online backup, secure syncing and sharing capabilities. As well, SpiderOak Blue enables centralized management and provisioning of company data. Companies retain complete ownership and administration of all their data, under a SpiderOak make certain that its employees can never view their company’s data for any reason–even under subpoena.

Features include Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) / Active Directory user account integration, RSA SecurID integration, private cloud capabilities, allowing users to put in their very own cloud behind the company firewall, an internet-based management console for user provisioning, reporting, group permissions and space management, the flexibility to bulk create and manage user accounts and download and edit via a comma-separated values (CSV) filing system, and company-level managed controls that may be pushed right down to all individual clients.

The platform also offers statistical and hassle-shooting reports on user activity, the power to selectively enable or disable Web and mobile access to individual accounts or groups, Microsoft installers for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows and the power to follow policy-set permissions within the Windows Registry or as a text file in Linux (through /etc) or Mac (through /Library).

“There isn’t a question that the cloud storage market is experiencing rapid growth as enterprises realize the inherent value of storing data inside the cloud,” said Richard Stiennon, chief research analyst at IT-Harvest. “The genuine ‘X factor’ for firms hosting data inside the cloud is their fundamental strategy to how they not just view security, but privacy. The industry has experienced several high-profile internal data breaches that may ultimately be traced back to the indisputable fact that data was easily accessible to employees and IT staff. Because the cloud storage market continues to mature, privacy will continue to play a critical role when it comes to a multi-tiered security infrastructure. You can not lose what you cannot see – here is the essence of the ‘Zero Knowledge’ approach.”

Companies can make a choice from a collection of 3 SpiderOak Blue products, each with capabilities fitted to more than a few sizes and kinds of organizations. Designed for small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs), SpiderOak Blue makes it possible for centralized management and access to data. The organization owns and will view all data, including information inside a built-in data auditing interface. Companies can reset passwords (via browser-driven `zero-knowledge’ encryption) and look at extensive reporting contained in the web-based management console.

Based on SpiderOak’s current OpenLicense (OL) program, SpiderOak Blue OL offers each of the features of SpiderOak Blue while placing data ownership into the hands of end users. Enterprise administrators handle general information, including user statistics and the quantity of knowledge stored per account. However, SpiderOak Blue OL doesn’t provide any approach to changing or resetting user passwords – end users remain answerable for their passwords. SpiderOak believes common use cases could include educational institutions.

Lastly, SpiderOak Blue+ is designed for the enterprise. The Blue Virtual Appliance places all management control into an open-source virtual machine (VM) that runs on company infrastructure – enabling full control of all data flowing inside and outside of a firm through SpiderOak. Features include key escrow technology, which decouples passwords from encryption for Blue + accounts, with private master keys that give company administrators full control over all company data. Other features include user account integration with Microsoft Active Directory, OpenLDAP, and RedHat Directory Server, while directory group membership provides SpiderOak account entitlement and integrated password management.

“Today’s companies struggle with the consumerization in their IT infrastructures,” said Ethan Oberman, CEO of SpiderOak. “When employees use consumer-oriented tools for enterprise purposes, they run the danger of revealing company data to applications and cloud infrastructure that guarantees neither privacy nor confidentiality. SpiderOak Blue lets companies retain full ownership over their data in a `zero-knowledge’ privacy environment.”

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