The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has selected security software company Netskope to move its security technologies to the cloud.
Through the Secure Access Service Edge contract — the first award of its kind to be administered by a U.S. federal civilian government agency — Netskope will assist in modernizing USPTO systems to a zero trust architecture and safeguarding assets from incursions by hackers and cybercriminals, the Santa Clara, California-based company said Tuesday.
“Legacy, perimeter-based approaches to security are no longer sufficient in a cloud-first environment where data can be accessed from anywhere. The solution is not ‘more tech.’ Netskope is ready to help Federal agencies,” explained Beau Hutto, vice president of federal business at Netskope.
The SASE contract is provided by SEWP Prime Anacapa Micro and Merlin Cyber, the distributor and is seen as a necessary maneuver given how many government workers are now remote and access data outside the purview of perimeter-driven legacy security systems.
The USPTO will utilize products such as Netskope Security Service Edge and Netskope NewEdge. The former program installs efficient cloud-based security measures that aim to preempt threats and protect data across a variety of sources and devices. The former is a security private cloud that operates as the internal engine of Netskope Security Cloud and derives its power from a diverse range of data centers.
Netskope’s work under the SASE contract will also entail the company’s team creating broadband conferences for the USPTO’s wide network of work-from-home employees; removing the emphasis on USPTO bandwidth-hosted resources by migrating to them to the cloud; and uniting the currently separate platforms of Secure Web Gateway, Cloud Access Security Broker and Zero Trust Network Access into one via a single vendor.
It is especially important for the USPTO to keep its data security systems up to date because the agency is the primary holding space for all patent and trademark information. Enabled by Netskope’s work and programs, the new SASE cloud security model will phase out the current, perimeter- and appliance-rooted security model and maintain a unified level of security throughout the USPTO’s online architecture.
Read Beau Hutto’s February Executive Spotlight interview with ExecutiveBiz.
