NetWitness to offer network-traffic analyzer as freeware

NetWitness Corp.  Monday said it's offering its network-traffic analysis tool under a freeware license to end users.

The company's Investigator 8.6 product can analyze SSL-encrypted traffic and provide insight into content based on applications and protocols.

The move to offer Investigator as freeware could help the start-up draw attention to the tool and more effectively compete against free open-source protocol analyzers, particularly Wireshark.

However, Investigator, while now available under a freeware license to end users, will not be open source, says Amit Yoran, CEO of NetWitness.

NetWitness, named by Network World a "Security Company to Watch" in 2007, will continue offering its other products, including Informer, used for automated reporting and alerts, under commercial for-fee terms.