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Features
Industry evolution
There is no denying the IT security market is alive and well. Depending on who you ask, between 400 and 1,500 security companies are in business worldwide, offering solutions ranging from anti-virus software to network access control appliances to consulting services. This, of course, should come as no surprise — especially when one considers enterprises are spending more money than ever before to meet compliance requirements and to defend against sophisticated and targeted attacks that could lead to embarrassing, costly breaches.
Jul 10 2006 8:41PM
Security
Traffic control
How do you spell trust? Not I-P-S — at least, not if you're an enterprise security manager deploying an intrusion prevention system (IPS) for the first time. Once heralded as the "smarter" cousin of the intrusion detection system (IDS) — destined to eventually kick its kin out of the data center because of its "intelligent" ability to block, not just identify, security threats — the IPS instead has reached a sort of détente with the IDS. Rather than supplanting the IDS with an IPS, many enterprises use the two devices in complementary fashion.
Jul 10 2006 8:30PM
Security
The money trail
To the law-abiding internet user, online payment systems offer immediacy, convenience, safety and a global reach, while keeping transaction costs to a minimum. To the cybercriminal, such services offer the same benefits — plus something even more attractive: secrecy.
Jul 10 2006 8:23PM
Security
Review: Astaro Security Gateway
The ASG 425 is at the top end of Astaro’s 1U appliance range, with several smaller versions and two larger options available. The unit offers eight ports, but just one is active by default and is used for the internal segment (and web management). The rest must be specifically enabled and configured, which is our preferred default configuration: everything blocked by default.
Jul 10 2006 12:00AM
Security
Review: FortiGate-1000A
We were pleased to see that this unit’s web GUI was one of the few being tested that defaults to a secure HTTPS connection. There is also a fully featured console available through serial connection, although it has a blank default password. That can be set, but a lot of users might forget, leaving their systems vulnerable.
Jul 10 2006 12:00AM
Security
Review: Kerio WinRoute Firewall
This was the only software being tested. WinRoute is intended to be installed on Windows systems, and there must be doubts about the product’s viability as Microsoft continues building features into ISA Server. For now, WinRoute is cheaper and offers features ISA does not.
Jul 10 2006 12:00AM
Security
Review: PRO 4100
SonicWALL’s PRO line of UTM appliances offers a good collection of features over and beyond a basic firewall, although this core feature is well provided. The 4100 we received is at the upper end of the line, offering 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports and throughput of 800Mbps. A 2.4Gbps version is also available.
Jul 10 2006 12:00AM
Security
Review: TSP 7300
The Total Stream Protection (TSP) line was part of the package when Secure Computing bought CyberGuard. This model is a beefy 3U box, supporting up to 38 ports with a total filtered throughput of 2.8Gbps (or half that for AES-encrypted VPNs). Hot-swappable redundant power and RAID storage is standard, and the box fully supports high-availability in various configurations.
Jul 10 2006 12:00AM
Security
News briefs
A laptop that had stored on it the personal information of more than 26.5 million veterans was reportedly stolen in May from the home of an employee of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The event was not made public until nearly three weeks later.
The massive data breach resulted in a shakeup at the department, including the resignation of a deputy assistant secretary and a class action lawsuit.
The stolen data may also have included information on 1.1 million active-duty service members, 430,000 National Guardsmen and 645,000 members of the Reserves.
Jul 7 2006 9:36PM
Security
New cybersecurity standards
The 9/11 attacks may have left the nation's power grid unaffected in 2001, but the August 2003 blackout knocked out power to some 400 million Americans. Combined, these incidents stressed the possible impact a widespread outage could cause and prompted concerns about cybersecurity.
Jul 6 2006 10:03PM
Security
Company news
VASCO, a leading authentication provider for the financial sector, has acquired Logico Smart Card Solutions for approximately $1.5 million in cash. The purchase of the Vienna-based Logico, an authentication storage specialist, allows VASCO to expand its presence in the smart card and public key infrastructure markets. Logico has customers in the healthcare, manufacturing and government sectors.
Jul 6 2006 9:59PM
Security
Me and my job
What do you like most about your job?
The constant challenge and learning keeps me going. Every day I need to investigate a new threat, new product or evaluate a new process. I love that I'm never looking at the same thing, and that my challenges always change.
Jul 6 2006 9:42PM
Security
Is employee blogging a risk?
Risk issues around corporate email monitoring have received a lot of attention in recent years, but as blogging continues to gain in corporate adoption, more risk implications may arise. While executives and IT teams have long recognized the importance of having policies in place to manage external forms of communication like email they are just beginning to realize the importance of applying the same level of scrutiny to their internal and external corporate blogs.
Jul 6 2006 9:34PM
Security
