More than 60 products and services will be launched this week at Demo, a conference sponsored by IDG Executive Forums, a division of Network World. With security uppermost in everyone's mind these days, we selected three of the most interesting security products slated to debut at the show and asked Network World Global Test Alliance partner Mandy Andress to evaluate these products from BBX, MagiQ and SigmaSecurity.

OS Network

A second-generation intrusion-prevention technology that acts as an immune system for Windows-based machines, OS Network monitors kernel operations and can identify unauthorized executables or authorized executables violating security policy.

If it finds an irregularity, OS Network takes action - deleting the unauthorized file and restoring any system files or registry entries that might have been corrupted or modified.

Several other intrusion-prevention products are on the market, including Entercept and Okena  (recently purchased by Cisco). OS Network differs from these products by focusing solely on the executable. Okena focuses on behavior profiling and Entercept focuses on specific attacks, such as buffer overflows. OS Network does not prevent the attack. It prevents the executable from causing any damage to the system. Additionally, OS Network is designed to work on servers, desktops and laptops. Another version of the product, OS Network Extend Shield, is available to protect the content of static Web sites.

After installation, OS Network takes a baseline of the system and uses that information to monitor for new and unauthorized executables. Centralized management is available for administration, logging and reporting. If administrators need to install new software on protected systems, they "lower the shield," install the necessary applications, then raise the shield to re-enable protection.

OS Network does not require signatures or periodic updates to function properly. Once installed and the policy set, it can continue securing systems indefinitely. This lowers administration costs and provides more robust protection than signature-based intrusion-detection products.

OS Network can best be viewed as the last layer in an organization's comprehensive defense-in-depth strategy, complementing firewalls, network intrusion-detection systems and antivirus products already installed in the organization. Intrusion prevention has been the buzzword in the security industry the past few years, and the technology has not yet taken off, mainly because of end-user frustration with too many false positives. Employees cannot do their jobs if their computers are constantly stopping actions they feel are malicious or against policy.