Set-it-and-Forget-it Continuous Cybersecurity Compliance is HERE!
SteelCloud recently announced its new cybersecurity automation solution —ConfigOS MPO (Master Policy Object). ConfigOS MPO is a truly set-it-and-forget-it continuous compliance solution made specifically to address today’s hybrid workforce. To learn more about it, we sat down with SteelCloud Founder and COO, Brian Hajost.
SteelCloud has a new product solution, tell us about it.
ConfigOS MPO and the traditional ConfigOS Command Center do many of the same things from a benefits perspective. They both automate STIG compliance and drastically reduce the time, effort and cost it takes to create a secure, compliant baseline. But feature-wise, MPO does a couple of things our traditional product does not—it is a truly set-it-and-forget-it scanning, remediation, and continuous compliance solution. And its architecture is specifically set up to address a hybrid workforce.
Why is that necessary?
Covid changed the face of the workforce altogether. Most employees still work on site, but whether you are in the government or private industry, many never returned from their work-from-home (WFH) situation and still others have transitioned to a hybrid environment, working on site some days and from home on other days. Add the mobile workforce to this and you have technology (endpoints) distributed in countless locations.
With traditional ConfigOS, scan and remediation jobs are run periodically from a center server out — to STIG the endpoints in your network. But if Bill is a WFH employee and he doesn’t have his computer on when you run the software, or if Jane is on-site and shut down her computer for a meeting, then you’ll have to remember to come back and take care of them later. Multiply this by 1,000 at some large government agencies and it stops being fun. While traditional ConfigOS still significantly simplifies and expedites compliance, it was built for endpoints that were largely on-site.
SteelCloud foresaw the changing workplace and the challenges it would pose and created ConfigOS MPO. MPO has a multi-tiered architecture that always knows when Bill and Jane are online. Most importantly ConfigOS MPO has the ability to scan or remediate systems both on and off the network, based on a schedule coordinated with the MPO server. And all this happens without operator intervention. This creates the capability to set the application up with your current policies, then scan, remediate, report, and provide continuous compliance, ad infinitum, without human intervention. You are always in compliance in real time.
So will you be transitioning ConfigOS users to ConfigOS MPO?
No. For now we need both solutions. Some agencies may even choose to use both simultaneously, based on their operating system. For example, while both run on a Windows platform, only traditional ConfigOS Command Center runs on Linux. Linux users might want a hybrid of the two or they may want to stick with traditional ConfigOS.
Also, ConfigOS MPO is a little more complex in its initial set-up. Traditional ConfigOS surprises administrators with its rapid implementation and scanning and remediating speed. But, once implemented, MPO is at another level. It reduces scan, remediation, and network traffic by over 95% – reducing remediation times from minutes to seconds. People didn’t believe our scanning and remediation speeds before and now, with MPO, they really won’t believe us!
So, the short answer to your question is no. ConfigOS Command Center and ConfigOS MPO are and will be separate solutions. For now. Today, MPO is optimized to solve the WFH, hybrid, and remote workforce issue with set-it-and-forget-it ease. As the two solutions develop in the future, we can foresee them becoming one. But that is some time off.
Finally, the big question—when can clients start using it?
Integrators who want to test it can access it now. And it’s ready for any client who wants to deploy soon. Also, we are ready to demo it for anyone wanting to take it for a test ride. Contact us and we’ll make it happen.
Schedule a demo of ConfigOS MPO today and be among the first to witness that solution that is revolutionizing compliance automation.
