Palo Alto Networks Okyo Garde protects work-from-home employees and small businesses

Palo Alto Networks announced Okyo Garde, an enterprise-grade cybersecurity solution delivered through a premium mesh-enabled Wi-Fi 6 system — addressing the risks of a world in which the workplace is as likely to be a kitchen table or spare bedroom as an office cubicle. Okyo Garde combines hardware, software and security services into one simple subscription.

“As the world moved to remote work a year and a half ago, it became clear that cybersecurity would need to follow workers home. We quickly and quietly assembled a team of some of the best consumer tech engineers and put them together with the exceptional teams who built Palo Alto Networks top security products. The result is Okyo Garde. It shows up as beautiful hardware and an easy app. But under the hood, it’s pure world-class security with constantly updated threat intelligence — the same technology that secures some of the world’s largest companies, banks, hospitals and the rest of our 85,000 worldwide customers,” said Mario Queiroz, executive vice president, Palo Alto Networks.

Okyo Garde for work-from-home employees

In many cases, the home is quickly becoming a “branch of one,” with multiple devices but without IT teams, and without a deep set of cybersecurity protections. Now these homes face the same threat landscape as any enterprise — threat actors may even see them as vulnerable entry points into the corporate network. Okyo Garde was designed to help protect these homes.

For larger companies looking to protect employees who are working from home, Okyo Garde will be integrating with Prisma Access, Palo Alto Networks’ cloud-delivered security platform. By combining Okyo Garde and Prisma Access, corporations will be able to extend their corporate networks and bring unified security policy management and SASE (secure access service edge) to work-from-home employees, while offering employees a premium Wi-Fi experience.

The work-from-home employee can also use Okyo Garde to enable an additional separate, private Wi-Fi network for the rest of their home and family’s needs. This network will also have advanced security capabilities designed for consumers and will be solely under the control of the employee or other family members.

Okyo Garde for small businesses

Because the number and frequency of cyberattacks have increased significantly, small businesses also need to ensure they are protected with the best available security — but they also need to be able to install and manage that security as easily as using their favorite app. Okyo Garde gives small businesses the cybersecurity protection they need with unparalleled malware and ransomware prevention, phishing protection, infected device detection, along and suspicious activity monitoring and control — all while delivering ultra-fast Wi-Fi.

The Okyo Garde mobile app makes it easy for businesses to have comprehensive control and visibility over their digital security and Wi-Fi network activity, and it helps make setup simple. Okyo Garde can also be ordered with the Okyo Concierge service, designed to provide peace of mind for small businesses or for anyone wishing extra attention for installation, 24/7 support or on-site troubleshooting.

“The changing nature of work from home is transforming the home network into a new, unmanaged enterprise edge,” said Zeus Kerravala, founder and principal analyst, ZK Research. “Securing and managing the home as a branch extension of the enterprise network, at scale requires a new security, networking, and management paradigm. An approach that delivers enterprise-grade cybersecurity with consumer simplicity and is built upon the principles of Zero Trust.”

With Okyo Garde, enterprises, small businesses and work-at-home employees can all have security and be ready for what comes next.

Pricing and availability

Okyo Garde subscriptions for small businesses start at $349/year and include a mesh-enabled Wi-Fi 6 system. For pre-orders through September 30, 2021, Palo Alto Networks offer Okyo Concierge with Pro subscription tier at no cost, a value of up to $148. Expanded distribution is expected from Palo Alto Networks NextWave partners later this year. Okyo Garde Enterprise Edition, with Prisma Access integration, is expected to be available from Palo Alto Networks and Palo Alto Networks NextWave partners in the U.S. in early 2022.