Layering Jamf Protect to reinforce security
Dan Lawrence, Senior Applications Engineer at MedMutual and Kat Garbis, Senior Channel Program Manager at Jamf, chat about MedMutual’s implementation of Jamf Protect.
MedMutual’s tech stack
MedMutual used or piloted a number of solutions for their Windows and Apple device fleet:
- Jamf Pro and Jamf Connect for Apple
- Intune for Windows
- Crowdstrike
- Qualys
- Defender (pilot only)
Lawrence wanted a Mac endpoint security solution that was purpose-built for these devices — providing more transparency and protection.
Why add Jamf Protect to your stack?
Familiar with Jamf Protect from a previous employer, Lawrence wanted to bring it into MedMutual’s tech stack because it was “built for Macs and built on Macs.” He noticed that their other “Windows-first” solutions were giving false positives and not giving the security data he needed because they didn’t know how to “read the Mac.”
As Lawrence says in his presentation,
- We want to have an efficient end-user computer that’s running fluidly without having to worry about checking in with multiple security applications.
Their so-called “cross-platform” solutions were hindering their efforts to achieve this; their Macs were bogged down by them looking for Windows malware, essentially.
This all changed when Lawrence started using Jamf Protect.
Initial findings
Lawrence reports the initial results after putting their Macs on Jamf Protect:
- Because of his familiarity with Jamf Pro, he found Jamf Protect easy to use.
- Unlike cross-platform solutions, it was very easy to see if their Macs were compliant.
- Jamf Protect provided detailed configuration settings and accurate reporting.
He found JamfCheck, an open-source project available on the Jamf Marketplace, very useful for checking MedMutual’s implementation of Jamf Pro, Jamf Connect and Jamf Protect. Among other functionalities, JamfCheck will simulate an event and verify that Jamf Protect responds appropriately.
Conclusion
Jamf Protect added an extra layer of security, additional reporting and remediation actions. Lawrence hopes to achieve Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) in the future and would like to remove other security agents on the Macs in favor of Jamf Protect.