INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Jamf has been widely known as an enterprise Mac deployment and management tool company, but it has been looking for ways to expand beyond
One thing it heard from customers was that there was a dearth of native Mac security tools
It checked that box today, announcing it has acquired Digita Security, a startup with a native Mac security suite
The two companies did not reveal the purchase price.Digita, a two-year-old startup, was founded by a team of security experts led by Patrick
Wardle, whose background includes a decade as a Mac security researcher seeking vulnerabilities on the Mac, and time at the NSA, where he
honed his security research skills.Wardle says that because of the relatively low Mac market share, many traditional security vendors
haven’t paid close attention, which can lead to trouble
“Mac market share is somewhat limited, maybe around 10%
So the average company is not going to spend a lot of time and resources developing Mac-specific capabilities,” he said.“From the
hacker’s point of view, this is great news, because their backdoor implants are generally not going to be detected by traditional tools
What I’ve been working on the last few years, and then most recently at Digita Security, is creating a system that is Mac-specific, that
leverages Mac-specific and Apple-specific frameworks and technologies,” he added.The Digita Suite consists of three main tools
It takes advantage of and enhances XProtect, the Mac’s built-in malware detection system, with a tool called UXProtect, which provides a
valuable missing front end to the tool
It also offers a Mac laptop security tool called Do Not Disturb that sends you a message if someone tries to access your laptop without
Finally, it offers a tool called Gameplan, a heuristic-based malware detection system.Jamf plans to continue to market the Digita toolset
as a standalone package for the time being, while taking advantage of the Jamf policy engine when it makes sense, according to company CEO
“With Digita, we’re going to be able to bring a whole solution to our customers
In addition to leaving Digita as a solution that can be offered on its own, we will be able to complete that journey for our customers by
being able to monitor and hunt for threats and apply security policy,” Hagar told TechCrunch.The deal has closed and the five Digita
Security employees are now part of the Jamf security team
Having a security tool like this in the fold could help make companies more comfortable deploying Macs by giving security teams the tools
they need to monitor and defend them, which could in turn expand Mac usage in the enterprise.
