Computer Protection

Software Updater is an automated patch management feature that's fully integrated with F-Secure Workstation Security clients. There's no need to install separate agents, management servers or consoles.

Software Updater is a critical security component. It's the first layer of protection when malicious content reaches end-points and can prevent up to 80% of attacks simply by installing software security updates as soon as they become available.

Software Updater works by scanning for missing updates, creating a vulnerability report based on missing patches, and then downloading and deploying them automatically or manually if needed. Security patches include Microsoft updates and 2500+ 3rd party applications such as Flash, Java, OpenOffice and others that commonly serve as attack vectors due to their popularity and larger number of vulnerabilities.

DeepGuard combines some of our most advanced security technologies. It's the final and most critical layer of defense against new threats—even those that target previously unknown vulnerabilities.

DeepGuard observes application behavior and proactively intercepts any potentially harmful action on-the-fly before it causes damage. By switching the focus from signature characteristics to malicious behavior patterns, DeepGuard can identify and block malware even before a sample has been acquired and examined.

When an unknown or suspicious program is first launched, DeepGuard temporarily delays its execution in order to perform a file reputation and prevalence rate check, runs it in a sandbox environment, then finally executes it for behavioral analysis and exploit interception.

For more information about Deep Guard functions and benefits, consult our technical whitepaper.

F-Secure DataGuard subjects selected high-risk and value-critical folders to advanced monitoring and additional detection logic. It makes them significantly more fortified against ransomware, and prevents malicious and unknown applications from destroying or tampering with the data that they contain. The high-risk and value-critical folders include, for example, the Downloads folder (web downloads), document folders, temp files (email attachments), and data repositories.

The feature's complementary detection logic significantly increases detection accuracy and aggressiveness against ransomware and their encryption processes. The Data Access module ensures that the data in these folders is not destroyed, tampered with, or encrypted by malicious or unknown applications, such as ransomware. Among other benefits, the Data Access module enables the recovery of data in the event of a successful ransomware attack, as it cannot encrypt the data located in those folders.

F-Secure DataGuard is available in Computer Protection Premium.

The F-Secure Security Cloud is our own cloud-based threat analysis system. It utilizes Big Data and Machine Learning, among other input, to continuously add to our knowledge base of digital threats. The Security Cloud is constantly in touch with client systems, identifying new threats as they emerge and providing protection within minutes.

A cloud-based threat analysis service affords many benefits over traditional approaches. We gather threat intelligence from hundreds of thousands of a large number of client nodes, building a real-time picture of the global threat situation. Within minutes, we use that knowledge to protect our customers.

For example, if DeepGuard's heuristic and behavior analysis identifies a zero-day attack, the information is shared with all protected devices via the F-Secure Security Cloud—rendering the advanced attack harmless mere minutes after initial detection.

For more on the functions and benefits of F-Secure Security Cloud, consult our technical whitepaper.

Our computer security component utilizes our multi-engine security platform to detect and prevent malware. It offers superior protection to traditional signature-based technologies:

• Detects a broader range of malicious features, patterns and trends, enabling more reliable and accurate detections, even for previously unseen malware variants
• By using real-time look-ups from the F-Secure Security Cloud, it can react faster to new and emerging threats in addition to ensuring a small footprint
• Emulation enables detection of malware that utilize obfuscation techniques, and offers another layer of security before a file is run

Browsing Protection is a key security layer that proactively prevents end-users from visiting malicious sites. This is particularly effective, as early intervention greatly reduces overall exposure to malicious content, and thus attacks.

For example, Browsing Protection will prevent end-users from being tricked into accessing seemingly legitimate phishing sites, accessing malicious sites through an email link, or getting infected through malicious 3rd party advertisements on otherwise legitimate sites.

The feature works by fetching the latest reputation check of the websites and their files from F-Secure's Security Cloud, based on various data points such as IP addresses, URL keywords and site behavior.

Browsing Protection is fully browser agnostic, as it works at the network level. This ensures that it still provides protection even if the end-user is not using company sanctioned browsers.

Web Traffic Protection prevents the exploitation of active content such as Java and Flash, which are used in the vast majority of online attacks. These components are automatically blocked on unknown and suspicious sites based on their reputation data. Administrators can make exceptions to this by adding sites to a trusted sites list, for example company intranet sites for which F-Secure does not have any reputation data.

Web Traffic Protection scans HTTP web traffic in real-time with multiple complementary anti-malware scanning engines and reputation checks. This ensures that malware and exploits are found and blocked at the traffic stage, before data is written to the hard disk. This provides additional protection against more advanced malware—for example the memory-only variety.

Web Content Control allows restriction of unproductive and inappropriate Internet usage. It can restrict employee Web browsing, denying access to non-work related destinations such as social media and adult sites to maximize time or and avoid malicious sites.

Web Content Control reduces productivity losses, bandwidth consumption and legal risks caused by unauthorized employee access to inappropriate or distracting Web content. It also greatly reduces chances of employee exposure to malicious content.

IT administrators can make local exceptions that override enforced categories. As an example, if social networking sites are restricted, you could add Linkedin.com to the trusted sites list as an exception.

Connection Control is a security layer that greatly increases protection for business-critical web activity like the use of intranets or sensitive cloud services like CRMs.

As soon as an employee accesses a website that requires additional security, Connection Control automatically elevates the security level for that session. During this period, Connection Control closes network connections to all unknown sites from the endpoint. Users can continue to use sites that are verified safe by F-Secure so as not to reduce employee productivity.

By blocking untrusted connections, banking trojans and other malware cannot send criminals confidential business information such as user credentials and cloud-based information. Security returns to normal when the specified browser process finishes or the user ends the session.

Device Control prevents threats from entering your system via hardware devices such as USB sticks, CD-ROM drives, and web cameras. This also prevents data leakage, by allowing read-only access, for example.

When a prohibited device is plugged in, Device Control turns it off to prevent user access. You can block access to devices by setting predefined rules, and set rules to allow specific devices while all other devices of the same class are blocked. You can for example:

• Disallow running programs from USB/CD/other drives: disable auto run, accidental execution or loading modules from removable drives.
• Block device classes completely.
• Define read-only access to USB/CD/other drives.
• Block device classes with exception of specified devices.

Application Control prevents threats from executing and running scripts, even if they bypass other security layers to get onto your device. This mitigates the risks posed by malicious, illegal, and unauthorized software in the corporate environment.

With Application Control you can:

• Identify and control which applications are allowed to run in your environment
• Identify trusted, authorized software automatically
• Prevent all other applications, whether malicious, untrusted, or simply unwanted from running 
• Eliminate unknown and unwanted applications in your environment to reduce complexity and risk
• Monitor all applications running within the endpoint environment

Finally, you can use it to block applications from running scripts, for example:

• Prevent all Microsoft Office applications from running PowerShell scripts
• Prevent all Microsoft Office applications from running Batch scripts

Application control works based on rules created by our penetration testers that cover attack vectors used to breach into corporate environments. Alternatively, the administrator can define the rules based on various criteria, such as the application name or version.

The new F-Secure firewall uses the default Windows rule engine to execute firewall rules. This greatly increases compatibility with other applications and appliances. The F-Secure expert ruleset, which contains advanced rules that counter risks such as propagating ransomware and lateral movement, is added on top of the standard Windows ruleset.

The administrator can extend the F-Secure rulesets with rules to tackle company and context-specific threats. Additionally, auto-selection rules allow administrators to define profiles adapted to the security needs of various networks.