Vaultive Cloud Data Security Platform

Widespread cloud adoption and the explosion of device types used to access cloud services have intensified security and compliance risks. Employees and contractors can use personal cloud tools for work outside employer oversight, while business units can procure SaaS without adequate risk assessment. Mobile access from outside the organizational perimeter compounds exposure. Key concerns include where data is stored and processed, cloud provider staff access, lawful government demands for data access without customer permission, and the need to demonstrate GDPR-compliant use of personal data for agreed purposes.

To address these issues, the market has grouped overlapping capabilities under Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs), including storage encryption, rights management, data leakage prevention, and access brokers/gateways. A particularly sensitive area is office productivity and email platforms such as Office 365 and Google Workspace, which contain information spanning the entire organization; protecting them against leakage and unauthorized disclosure is essential. A core recommendation is customer-controlled encryption for data stored in cloud services.

Vaultive, a privately held US company founded in 2009, provides the Vaultive Cloud Data Security Platform (CDP): a stateless, network-layer encryption and data security proxy designed to be seamless for applications and transparent to end users. Initially focused on Exchange Online/Office 365 encryption, Vaultive has expanded to simplify SaaS integrations and add behavioral controls, content-based blocking/redaction, auditing, and alerting. For Office 365, Vaultive encrypts data in transit, at rest, and in use so it is never stored in the cloud as clear text; the proxy encrypts/decrypts messages in flow without storing them. It supports common protocols and mobile access, works with PGP and S/MIME, uses AES-256 with patented methods that preserve server-side functionality, and keeps keys customer-controlled (optionally in HSMs) with options for geography-specific key localization. Limitations include fewer predefined SaaS integrations and no discovery/access control for unsanctioned cloud apps.

• Employees and associates can use personal cloud services for work without reference to their employer.
• Business managers can acquire cloud services without performing a risk assessment or considering compliance impact.
• GDPR came into force in May 2018.
• Vaultive is a privately held US company founded in 2009 and funded by venture capital.
• Vaultive is headquartered in Boston with research and development in Tel Aviv.
• Vaultive CDP operates as a stateless network-level proxy that encrypts and decrypts messages as they flow through the network.
• Vaultive CDP does not store messages within the appliance.
• Vaultive uses 256-bit AES encryption and the appliance is undergoing FIPS 140-2 validation.
• Encryption keys can be stored in the Vaultive appliance or in a customer-selected Hardware Security Module.
• Vaultive created turn-key rule packs for ServiceNow and Oracle Taleo.

• “Employees and associates can use their personal cloud services to perform their jobs without reference to their employer.”
• “It is imperative that organizations take steps to protect this data against leakage and unauthorized disclosure to protect their operations and ensure compliance.”
• “Vaultive is both seamless to the supported application and transparent to end-users so neither training nor changes in user behaviour are required.”
• “This means that the cloud service provider does not have access to the keys.”
• “Key management is a critical element to maintain the security of the encrypted data.”
• “The cloud customer must have complete control over the keys and must have processes to ensure that the keys are safely backed up and can be changed if compromise is suspected.”
• “This patented technology makes it possible for the encrypted data to be searched, sorted and otherwise processed without it ever being decrypted at the cloud provider.”
• “A minimum of two redundant Vaultive CDP virtual appliances are generally deployed for an organization…”
• “Office 365 is often the first strategic SaaS application that many organizations adopt…”
• “Presently, Vaultive focuses exclusively on protecting company sanctioned applications.”