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Quick Take: Venafi ‘Stop Unauthorized Code’ Solution

Venafi has launched its new “Stop Unauthorized Code Solution,” designed to address the rising complexities inherent in software development security, specifically targeting unauthorized code and software supply chain attacks.

Venafi’s Stop Unauthorized Code Solution

Venafi’s new Stop Unauthorized Code solution aims to shrink the attack surface for organizations, thwart potential malware and cyber-attacks, and enhance application control, thereby reducing security breaches.

The solution integrates Venafi’s CodeSign Protect product with CodeGuard Service to provide an end-to-end approach for minimizing security breaches. It ensures rigorous control over code execution by verifying the authenticity of code sources and enforcing strict execution policies. This is crucial to protecting against malware attacks, zero-day exploits, and similar threats.

Venafi’s Stop Unauthorized Code Solution encompasses secure code signing processes, dynamic certificate-based application control, and rigorous certificate verification to permit only authentic and unaltered software execution. It also includes policy controls to block unauthorized software and offers ongoing tailored support and guidance for customization.

The new solution is timely and crucial, as software supply chain attacks are increasingly common and challenging to protect against. Venafi’s integrated approach offers a comprehensive strategy to mitigate these risks across diverse operating environments.

This is critical in an era where the cost of software supply chain attacks is projected to soar. Venafi’s ability to streamline this process while minimizing the burden on security teams is a game-changer, offering flexibility and enhancing compliance and security.

Analysis

Venafi is experiencing a period of rapid innovation; its new Stop Unauthorized Code solution is just the latest example. It’s also the first release under new CEO Patrick Dennis, who joined the firm earlier this year.

I spoke to Dennis shortly after he took the new role, and he expressed excitement about Venafi’s differentiated approach. This approach focuses on protecting machines, not just users, as many competing solutions do. He said, “There are two halves to the identity problem: the user and the machine; we focus on the machine.”

Dennis believes there’s a lot of headroom for the company to grow. He told me that competitors are limiting themselves with narrow approaches, such as only protecting user identity. “Endpoint is only one market,” he told me, saying that Venafi is focused more broadly. If it runs code, it’s a machine,” and that’s what Venafi protects. 

Venafi’s CEO may be right. The privately held company recently disclosed that it grew its SaaS business by an impressive 164% year-on-year. This growth is driven by Venafi’s focus on delivering advanced SaaS solutions for securing machine identities, which is crucial in today’s digital infrastructure.

Key partnerships with major software and cloud providers have also extended Venafi’s reach, which is evident in collaborations with HashiCorp Cloud Platform Vault and VMware Tanzu Service Mesh. These partnerships enhance Venafi’s market presence and establish it as a vital player in cybersecurity.

As organizations increasingly recognize the paramount importance of machine identity management, Venafi’s suite of solutions demonstrates the company’s dedication to advancing cybersecurity and safeguarding the integrity of software supply chains worldwide. The company’s rapid growth shows that customers clearly like Venafi’s approach. I can’t wait to see what’s next under Patrick Dennis’s fresh leadership.

Disclosure: The author is an industry analyst, and NAND Research an industry analyst firm, that engages in, or has engaged in, research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, which may include those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.