No matter how strong IT security is, cyberattacks are almost impossible to prevent. IGEL argues that endpoints can still be defended preventively. From OT environments to web apps and Windows endpoints, IGEL’s architecture is designed to simplify management, prevent downtime, and extend device lifespans.
Techzine spoke with John Walsh, Field CTO at IGEL, and Senior Technology Evangelist Jaime Halscott. They work for the long-established German company IGEL Technology, founded in 2001 and originally a manufacturer of thin clients. Today, it focuses on software, shielding the endpoint via a read-only operating system. “The endpoint itself cannot be attacked [when using IGEL],” explains Walsh. “So that eliminates a huge part of the attack surface.” Up to 95 percent, to be precise.
Simple management
Each endpoint is stateless, Halscott explains – it remembers nothing from previous interactions and only works when linked to a persona. “Because we provide a read-only OS, you don’t need EDR/XDR,” Walsh notes. He says this allows IGEL to extend zero trust from applications to the OS and the endpoint itself, filling an important gap in the security landscape. To get the endpoint up and running and manage it, it authenticates via a unified portal that is easy to integrate into other solutions.
Think of an environment within Nutanix, with which IGEL has a partnership. Policies can be matched with vendors such as Zscaler, Trellix, CrowdStrike, Citrix, and Parallels. For an OT environment, where the endpoint performs limited tasks and may do so for years, this is a nice simplification in a modern context. Whereas an endpoint in an industrial environment may previously have been offline or completely segmented from the IT network, security teams were unable to see its status. Now that this is a requirement, IGEL can ensure that it can be integrated without additional security risks. A practical conclusion is that IGEL can replace EDR, with over 120 integrations.
An optional hypervisor can run Windows workloads as guests while IGEL manages the endpoint. Customers are aiming for up to 75 percent cost reduction in their endpoint budgets by, for example, keeping systems alive longer.
A longer life
In an OT context, an endpoint must function regularly for a long period of time. It may be expensive and/or inconvenient and/or unsafe to physically replace a device. This does not matter for Microsoft Windows’ timeline, and anyone running VMware on such a device will suddenly have to deal with completely different licenses than before, now that Broadcom has taken over.
For these reasons, organizations need to make quick decisions: Windows 10 alone will result in a large number of endpoints that are no longer supported. Without additional support, the curtain will fall on this OS in October of this year. Many devices will not be able to make the transition to Windows 11 due to missing security features. IGEL’s solution, Walsh explains, is to respond to these waves. “The Windows 10 timing couldn’t be any better”, Halscott notes. It can guarantee the security of a legacy Windows installation by making Linux read-only on top of it and acting as a hypervisor. This is where the aforementioned cost savings come in. Specifically, IGEL hopes to extend the typical lifespan of an endpoint from 3-5 years to 6-8 years.
The unified management system (UMS), together with the read-only OS, forms an enforcement plane to align policies with security services and other solutions. Posture signals and logs are shared with these partners’ applications. “We are just like Switzerland,” says Walsh. “And we strongly support the device and user pillars.”
Conclusion: at home in all markets
Another point that may not have been entirely clear until now is IGEL’s flexibility. It is useful to mention the range of application delivery options. These include VDI, DaaS, browsers, web apps, IGEL-native apps, and legacy Windows. The end result should lead to less agent sprawl than the alternatives and shorter update cycles.
It is also worth noting that choosing IGEL covers a lot, but obviously not all cyber threats. For example, certain attacks are still possible during a session. Memory-only vulnerabilities or attacks via the browser are as dangerous as ever, but logically less applicable if the endpoint is not a normal PC but an OT sensor or similar. In short: if you want to minimize the attack surface on the host and centralize management, IGEL offers a clear path.
Read also: How Nutanix uses Nutanix