SentinelOne made an unusual offer to its customers by backing-up its anti-ransomware product with a financial guarantee.
The company has announced that, in case of a ransomware attack on its customers` networks, it will provide them with financial support if it fails to stop the attack or rectify the effects. Targeted users will get paid $1000 per endpoint or even up to $1 million per company if SentinelOne breaks its promise and is unable to protect them.
“For an infection to take place it has to be in the wild, it has to be able to provide forensic evidence and we can see in real time if it is you hacking yourself and there are a lot of traces to cover.” states the CEO and co-founder of SentinelOne, Tomer Weingarten.
“For ransomware writers, they don’t care about who they infect. We are just there to provide the comfort. We are the mechanism to get protected and if you get encrypted, we can cover the business interruption and you don’t have to pay the ransom if we did not fulfill our role in protecting you and we don’t encourage you to pay the ransom.”
There are some requirements in order for the ransomware attack to be detected by the SentinelOne Endpoint Protection (EPP) or Critical Server Protection (CSPP) platforms. “Shadow Copy” should be enabled on all Windows-based endpoints and servers as well as a SentinelOne agent installed. Also, the mitigation policy should be set to ‘Quarantine’ and the ‘Cloud Validation’ management console turned OFF. If all these are on point the platforms should be able to automatically detect the attack and recover the encrypted files and save the victims from paying the ransom.
Weingarten noted, though, that if a customer is using and older version of Windows and get attacked, their claim would not be valid. They have to prove that their machine was running the newest, up to date Windows version if they want the payout or an explanation. The company doesn`t claim that they are invincible but they believe in how good their product is enough to put a guarantee on it.
Moreover, SentinelOne is offering something no one else is at this point and, considering all the problems ransomware has caused, it is comforting to see a company try so hard.
“We plan to back about 500 enterprises with the first effort, and it is about statistics and no-one is claiming that we are going to be bulletproof, and I am sure we will make payouts and we as a company are sharing the risk,” Weingarten said. “You pay, say $20 per endpoint to your antivirus vendor and they won’t pay for your ransom and you have to pay an extra $500 to get rid of your ransomware and you pay the pirate. We say pay us and a $5 premium and you won’t have to pay that $500.”
The CIO for CDC Underwriting, Graeme Newman, commended on SentinelOnes`s initiative saying that offering a financial guarantee in case of failure is not only a great way to express their faith in the product but it also helps in advertising.
Robert Schifreen, former hacker turned writer and consultant, added that by buying this product user will not only feel safer when it comes to cyberthreats but also, in case something doesn`t work as planned, they will get more than just an apology.
After some concerns were expressed SentinelOne explained very clearly that this initiative is not about the insurance and the money are only meant to cover the ransom costs. As they say, all “is aimed at protecting the vendor itself from lawsuit” and “making sure they’re covered”. Any damages associated with loss of IP, or business disruption are not in the picture.
It not news that users need better protection against the vicious ransomware attacks and it hasn`t been done much for this case. The technology is struggling in its attempt to properly protect user of becoming victims. SentinelOne is putting its reputation on the line by being the first to offer that kind of financial guarantee to back-up its message but no one else is doing anything.
“No other cybersecurity company is currently offering to back their security technology with guaranteed financial remuneration.” the company says.
