New CIRA Off-Network Protection Feature Ensures Organizations are Safe Everywhere

CIRA DNS Firewall protects users’ devices no matter where they work or learn

OTTAWA, Sept. 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CIRA releases off-network protection for CIRA DNS firewall service to extend the cybersecurity protection to users when they are not connected to their corporate networks.

As employees embrace hybrid work from more devices and students keep learning while connected to mobile networks on the go, from coffee shops, shared workspaces, or other locations, CIRA leverages its expertise to offer a new layer of protection for public and private institutions nationwide.

By monitoring and analyzing DNS traffic, CIRA DNS Firewall blocks users from accessing malicious websites, prevents phishing attacks, and stops malware already on a network from accessing the internet. To accompany the implementation of its new protective feature, CIRA is launching an easy-to-deploy app which enables privacy, security and content filtering outside of an organization’s initial network security perimeter. This cloud-based endpoint protection secures devices against cyber threats while on and off the VPN, without impacting the device’s performance or requiring specialized hardware.

CIRA DNS Firewall is a fundamental way for CIRA to help build a trusted internet for Canadians. The solution currently protects over 200 institutions in the elementary, high school and higher-education sectors, dozens of municipalities and many clients in the government, health and charity sectors. Across the country, more than three million users rely on the solution in work settings to continuously keep their organizations up and running. The technology that drives DNS Firewall, is also what makes it possible for CIRA to offer Canadian Shield, the protected DNS for households, to millions of users’ non-work devices and networks.

“Workforces are more mobile than ever. Off-net protection will help safeguard Canadian institutions and strengthen their defence in depth strategies. Adapting to the changing work environment, without compromising security or their network integrity is a top priority for IT professionals, and we are proud to support them in these efforts,” says Jon Ferguson, General Manager for cybersecurity and DNS services, CIRA.

Key elements

• Allow administrators to manage and configure multiple corporate and public networks
• Monitor threat activity, identifies threats and infected devices
• Extend the ability for IT departments to regulate access to websites based on their content categories in out-of-office environments
• Manage device and network groups: Individual devices and teams can have unique filtering policies and be assigned to multiple computers and devices or networks.
• Available on Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS and Chrome

About CIRA
CIRA manages the .CA top-level domain on behalf of all Canadians. CIRA also develops technologies and services—such as CIRA DNS Firewall and CIRA Canadian Shield—that help support its goal of building a trusted internet for Canadians. The CIRA team operates one of the fastest-growing country code top-level domains (ccTLD), a high-performance global DNS network, and one of the world’s most advanced back-end registry solutions.

About CIRA DNS Firewall
CIRA DNS Firewall is a cost-effective, low-maintenance layer of protection which monitors and analyzes DNS traffic to block users from accessing malicious websites, preventing phishing attacks, and even stopping malware already on a network from accessing the internet. Located exclusively in Canadian data centres and peered to Canadian Internet Exchange Points, CIRA DNS Firewall is powered by Akamai’s DNS Infrastructure and Security and Personalization Services (SPS) solutions.

Media Contacts
Delphine Avomo Evouna
Communications Specialist, CIRA
613.315.1458
delphine.avomoevouna@cira.ca