Hexnode developed with mission of helping enterprises manage their device fleet: Apu Pavithran

Hexnode, the enterprise software division of Mitsogo Inc. was founded on a mission to build the future of business mobility around intelligent tools that simplify the way people work. Born from the need for a worry-free, ready-to-work experience aligned with IT, the creators of Hexnode decided to make it their life’s work to craft an intelligent, unified workspace platform.

Hexnode's award-winning UEM has now empowered organizations in over 100 countries with a centralized platform for enterprise-wide device, app, content, identity and threat management. Hexnode is now fueling the transformation to a seamless ecosystem of connected tools, one software at a time.

Apu Pavithran, Founder and CEO of Hexnode|Mitsogo, tells us more. Excerpts from an interview:

DQ: Give us an overview on Mitsogo and Hexnode, its flagship product.

Apu Pavithran: We founded Mitsogo to establish it as one of the leading vendors of Endpoint Management and Security Solutions. Through our award-winning Unified Endpoint Management software, Hexnode, we have been supporting businesses globally since 2013. Mitsogo's device management expertise to boost business productivity and compliance has been leveraged by companies of all sizes, from SMBs to Fortune 500s, in securing their corporate endpoints.

Hexnode, our flagship product, was developed with the mission of helping enterprises manage their device fleet. Recognizing the value of corporate data and witnessing the emergence of BYODs (bring your own device), COPEs (corporate-owned personal enabled), and COBOs (corporate-owned business only), Hexnode has been in an endeavor to introduce intelligent technologies to safeguard devices against threats and thefts. It offers full mobility management software compatible with all major platforms, including Android, Windows, iOS, macOS, Fire OS, and Apple TVs.

DQ: What are the upcoming trends in the security industry for the future world of work?

Apu Pavithran: Despite the unusual past couple of years, the security industry has been constantly transforming. Several significant trends have emerged, driving the industry to new heights. One crucial element of it is cloud adoption. Granted, cloud adoption has been underway for quite some time now. Yet still, many in the industry are yet to leverage its prowess. In the coming years, every application will shift to either a fully cloud-based solution or a hybrid one.

As such subscription-based SaaS applications proliferate, administrators will find it difficult to use multiple applications simultaneously. The solution is quite simple; convergence. Many modern applications already have integrations with other applications. Depending on the use cases and value of the integration, convergence is undoubtedly a path most applications will soon adopt.

DQ: Elaborate on cybersecurity trends in the new decade.

Apu Pavithran: As I mentioned earlier, convergence will be a massive part of the future, and in that regard, two security architectures lauded as the future of cybersecurity are zero trust and SASE.

The pièce de résistance of a zero-trust architecture lies in its approach of assuming every device or connection in a corporate network as untrustworthy unless proved otherwise. This means that access to corporate resources is granted only to those devices which are authorized only. The White House executive order of May 2021, enforcing all federal agencies in the US to be zero trust ready by 2022, is a testament to its relevance.

Often mentioned as the "security trend of the decade," SASE is emerging to address the long-standing issue of striking a balance between security and productivity that companies want. SASE converges both the connectivity and security aspects of networking and unifies them into a single console for simplified administration. From an aspirational concept introduced by Gartner in 2019, SASE is rising to be an essential element of boardroom discussions.

Although both of them have been around for a couple of years, their significance was truly understood during the pandemic. Now, as we dive headfirst into this new decade, SASE and zero trust seem to be exciting trends that will shape the future of cybersecurity.

DQ: What are the top 5 trends in enterprise security for the ‘new normal?

Apu Pavithran: As the coronavirus pandemic raged on, we witnessed the beginning of a new work culture. Perimeters were no longer applicable, and the work became remote. However, since the beginning of the work-from-home scenario, we have seen a significant surge in cyber-attacks. As a result, enterprise security went through a major paradigm shift to keep up with the new vulnerabilities of a remote workforce.

Managing a remote workforce requires accurate visibility into all the deployed devices and granular control over them to enforce safe cybersecurity practices. Unified endpoint management (UEM) solutions like our Hexnode shifted from being a good practice to a boardroom priority during the pandemic. UEMs offer IT comprehensive insight into all devices and allows them to monitor and manage them remotely. Furthermore, they prevent users from visiting malicious websites, enforce strong password policies and provide remote control to troubleshoot any hiccups.

Similar to UEMs, identity and access management (IAM) has also seen a prominent rise during and after Covid. Employees working remotely will need to be authorized and given access to corporate resources. For remote employees, multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, and encrypted data sharing are all essential features.

Cybersecurity and data privacy has been an area of concern ever since the inception of the internet and the connected world. As a result of the vast number of connected devices operating today, many government entities have established legislation to protect the ocean of data.

Among the most prominent are the European Union's general data protection regulation (GDPR) from 2018, and the California Consumer Privacy Act from 2020. In addition, the recent introduction of the nation's first true data privacy bill in India, the world's largest digital democracy, implies that the trend toward additional countries enacting appropriate legislation will continue in the coming years. As a result, CISOs must verify that their organizations adhere to their data privacy and security policies or face being penalized.

Artificial intelligence developments, the launch of super-fast 5G mobile networks, and massive amounts of big data are all drivers which have led to the expansion of IoT technology. In the years ahead, organizations will be brimming with these smart devices, and they will revolutionize the future of work.

Unfortunately, this means that every active device in a corporate network is a potential entry point for hackers, and the security industry will need to secure even the most basic IoT-enabled device. As a result, enterprise IoT (Internet of Things) or EoT (Enterprise of Things) is a sure trend that the industry will pay close attention to.

Of course, any discussion about the future of enterprise security will not be complete without talking about artificial intelligence. On a commercial level, AI is still very new to most solutions. That said, applications like endpoint protection solutions are using AI to counter against zero-day vulnerabilities, and many security applications use AI chatbots for customer service. The applications of AI are countless, and enterprise security also ranks high among them.

DQ: How has the pandemic affected the way enterprise security works?

Apu Pavithran: The pandemic completely turned the threat landscape upside down. The workforce being remote meant that the traditional network security measures like VPNs and firewalls and the protection they offered didn't matter anymore. From provisioning new employees to managing existing ones, corporate executives had to change the functional architecture of work altogether.

The immediate challenge for CISOs was to protect corporate resources outside the company network and set up secure spaces for remote collaboration and video conferencing. As I previously stated, several solutions and methods have evolved to protect the remote workforce, proving the adage "necessity is the mother of all invention."

However, it meant that IT admins and CISOs had to learn a new way of securing their organizations. This also changed the hiring of new cybersecurity talent. Remote working has made security managers' roles more daunting, and organizations are looking for employees familiar with the new methodology.