OpenDNS Teams With FireEye to Boost Threat Protection

OpenDNS, the company best known for its DNS service that adds a level of security by monitoring domain name requests, today announced that its Umbrella security service is now integrated with the FireEye Web Malware Protection System (MPS).

Launched by OpenDNS in November 2012, Umbrella is a DNS-based security solution delivered through the cloud that helps protect users from malware, botnet and phishing threats regardless of location or device. 

Adding FireEye’s behavioral analysis technology to Umbrella will provide OpenDNS customers with real-time protection against custom malware, zero-day exploits and advanced persistent threats (APTs), the company said.

Using predictive threat detection and enforcement, the combination of OpenDNS and FireEye will enable customers to extend security policies to the cloud and transparently protect any user and any device, both on and off the corporate network.

“Malicious activity detected by FireEye is automatically fed to the Umbrella service to enhance security policy enforcement, protecting customers from infection and preventing data leakage,” the company explained.

David Ulevitch, CEO of OpenDNS, called the partnership a “force-multiplier for Enterprise security.”

The announcement of the partnership was made at the FireEye 2014 Momentum Partner Conference, taking place in Las Vegas this week.

“Through this partnership, we are able to extend FireEye’s advanced threat protection to the cloud and provide centralized security policy enforcement to any device, on or off the network,” said Didi Dayton, vice president of worldwide strategic alliances at FireEye.

Because Umbrella resolves more than 50 billion DNS requests each day through its OpenDNS network, it is able to collect massive volumes of data and gain unique insight into emerging security threats and attacks. Using data collected from its DNS requests, OpenDNS leverages big data analytics to predict and block cyber threats without the need for manual intervention by security teams.

FireEye’s technology utilizes an isolated virtual environment (Virtual Execution Engine) to analyze file behavior and detect malicious code embedded in common file types. FireEye delivers alerts to OpenDNS when new threats are detected.

The OpenDNS-FireEye integration extends enforcement beyond the eroding network perimeter, Ulevitch said. “Together we can detect, alert and block advanced threats before damage can be done.”  

To enable the combined protection services, customers enable an option in the FireEye management console, which will trigger alerts to be sent to Umbrella service where the threat will be validated by OpenDNS and blocked if the customer has chosen that deployment option, OpenDNS told SecurityWeek.

The Umbrella service with FireEye integration is available immediately and is included with OpenDNS subscriptions, and also available on FireEye appliances.

[Updated]