Okena adds control

WALTHAM, MASS. - Okena last week introduced intrusion-detection system management software that goes beyond simply centralizing the process of controlling servers and PCs running the company's StormWatch IDS program.

Like other IDS management software, StormTrack can deliver a big picture of attempted attacks and unauthorized use. In doing so, Okena says the software can save IT staffs the drudgery of managing machines outfitted with StormWatch one by one.

Where StormTrack is different is in its ability to collect information on applications and services that never run and as a result, present a possible security hole. The software also can be used to keep track of where different versions of applications are running - useful information for companies trying to spot programs that need to be updated or patched.

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WALTHAM, MASS. - Okena last week introduced intrusion-detection system management software that goes beyond simply centralizing the process of controlling servers and PCs running the company's StormWatch IDS program.

Like other IDS management software, StormTrack can deliver a big picture of attempted attacks and unauthorized use. In doing so, Okena says the software can save IT staffs the drudgery of managing machines outfitted with StormWatch one by one.

Where StormTrack is different is in its ability to collect information on applications and services that never run and as a result, present a possible security hole. The software also can be used to keep track of where different versions of applications are running - useful information for companies trying to spot programs that need to be updated or patched.

The Windows-based software, which costs $500 per server and $25 per desktop agent, also has a network-discovery component that can be used to identify which servers and desktops are not running Okena's IDS software in the event an IT staff wants to further distribute it.

"StormTrack consolidates a lot of things that had only been available before to view on a per-machine basis," says Bill Spernow, CIO at the Georgia Student Finance Commission, an Atlanta-based organization that receives state funding for student loan programs. "Like a network-discovery tool, it does process discovery, and gives us interesting insight into what's going on in our network."

The finance commission is setting aside $70,000 in its next budget to purchase Okena software to safeguard its new Windows 2000 network. The commission has used Okena for about six months on assorted Windows, Internet Information Server and Check Point servers.

Spernow says StormTrack can not only cast light on which servers might be under attack, but also report on application problems. The Georgia IT staff once was remotely restoring Microsoft Advanced Server and overwriting a registry, but discovered the old and new registries actually had merged instead. "StormTrack showed us what our environment processes were," he says.

Okena competes with Alladin, Entercept and Symantec.

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