AccessData, through distribution partner ARM, has signed a partnership agreement in the Middle East with Contego Solutions, an Incident Response and Digital Forensics specialist firm. The partnership will enable Contego Solutions to incorporate AccessData’s market leading technology, including its Cyber Intelligence & Response Technology (CIRT), Forensic Toolkit (FTK), AD Lab and Mobile Phone Examiner Plus (MPE+) solutions, in the design and deployment of digital forensics laboratories of regional enterprises.
With the frequency of cyber attacks in the region rapidly increasing, such laboratories are now becoming critical, especially for legal and law enforcement agencies and enterprises in the financial, airlines and telecom sectors, where data security is of utmost importance.
“Being prepared to respond to cyber attacks should be part of every organization’s information security strategy. Given the scale and sophistication of cyber crime in the region, enterprises simply cannot afford not to protect themselves. Our solutions give organizations the ability to investigate security incidents and respond to cyber attacks, which ultimately helps limit financial loss and data theft,” said Simon Whitburn, Senior Vice President and General Manager at AccessData.
Contego Solutions will offer AccessData’s entire products portfolio including the standalone FTK and MPE+ for small to medium size labs and ‘AcessData Lab’ for large labs handling massive data sets, utilizing a distributed workforce, or looking to collaborate with attorneys, HR personnel or other non-forensic parties. Contego will also focus on the revolutionary and award winning AccessData CIRT platform with end point investigation and remediation capabilities.
Timm Lemcke, Managing Director for Contego Solutions says, “Our expertise lies in designing full turnkey digital forensics laboratories for clients. The AccessData product range, especially the CIRT platform, greatly strengthens our portfolio and forms an invaluable piece of the solution set that we offer.”
CIRT integrates network forensics, host forensics, malware analysis and large-scale data auditing, giving organizations visibility into all their critical information while providing enterprise-class remediation capabilities. The solution’s intuitive controls are based on technologies that IT professionals are familiar with. The feature packed platform will give regional organizations the ability to search and identify key digital forensic evidence leading to more secure IT configurations and better data protection.
As an added benefit to customers, AccessData’s distribution partner ARM will make demo equipment available for Proof of Concepts (POCs) at client sites. Vivian Gevers, Managing Director, ARM says, “Arranging POCs is an excellent proposition for clients, especially when dealing with advanced solutions like digital forensics. Clients want to verify that any solution they purchase will function in a stable manner once installed and integrate well with the existing IT environment. This is only possible when the solution is readily available to be implemented at their premise for a certain timeframe. If these POCs work as per the client requirements, then there is a high probability that the client will invest in the solution.”
As per the agreement, AccessData and ARM will extend its support to Contego for the fulfilment of client SLAs when required. The company has also provided trainings and certifications to Contego’s highly skilled digital forensics team that is soon to have two AccessData Certified Examiner (ACE) certified specialists.
“Our partnership with AccessData and ARM is a perfect fit. They are leaders in the market which is why their solutions are something of an industry standard. Our staff has extensive experience in law enforcement and enterprise consulting and some of our technical team members are already very familiar with AccessData, having worked with the technology in the past. This expertise will translate into comprehensive implementations that will help our clients realize the full value of their IT security investments,” concludes Lemcke.
