What is Vernier Networks up to?

Clarifying issues surrounding this emerging security architecture

The NAC company Vernier Networks has changed its name to Autonomic Networks, refinanced and is cooking up new technology that it says will complement its current Edgewall NAC appliances.

It’s looking for software engineers with qualifications that include previous work on distributed systems, firewalls, intrusion detection, data leakage, admission control, application security, Layer 4 through 7 protocol decoding and content inspection; Layer 2 and 3 networking components and high-availability architectures for mission-critical data path functions.

The company’s new Web site says it is working on hardware that learns, audits and controls user access to sensitive data and other network assets. It says the technology can boil down the vast number of suspicious events that occur on business networks and trigger alerts only for those that require action.

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The NAC company Vernier Networks has changed its name to Autonomic Networks, refinanced and is cooking up new technology that it says will complement its current Edgewall NAC appliances.

It’s looking for software engineers with qualifications that include previous work on distributed systems, firewalls, intrusion detection, data leakage, admission control, application security, Layer 4 through 7 protocol decoding and content inspection; Layer 2 and 3 networking components and high-availability architectures for mission-critical data path functions.

The company’s new Web site says it is working on hardware that learns, audits and controls user access to sensitive data and other network assets. It says the technology can boil down the vast number of suspicious events that occur on business networks and trigger alerts only for those that require action.

The site says the gear can allow overriding set policies on the fly if an individual needs a resource unexpectedly, but at the same time monitors that expanded access to make sure it maintains security as well as industry and regulatory requirements.

“Bottom line – Autonomic Networks delivers highly adaptive access controls network security professionals need to achieve a new level of business-enablement while minimizing security risks, maintaining regulatory compliance, and protecting against fraud and theft,” Autonomic’s Web site says.

Meanwhile, Vernier’s Web site is still live. The venture capital firm DCM, which invested in Vernier, lists Autonomic as part of its portfolio.

The EdgeWall NAC appliance is installed inline with traffic to block access to devices that fail security posture checks or are unauthorized to gain network access. It also provides intrusion prevention and real-time traffic statistics.

About the company’s new name: “Similar to the human autonomic system, Autonomic Networks technology automatically learns, audits, and controls user access to sensitive data, applications, and other assets on an enterprise network – while increasing business productivity throughout the organization.”

Stay tuned for more.

Read more about security in Network World's Security section.

Tim Greene is senior editor at Network World.