Cisco's new security moves

By Ellen Messmer, NetworkWorld.com, 05/19/03

During the last month, Cisco completed its acquisition of Waltham, Mass.-based Okena for over $100 million. At the recent NetWorld+Interop conference, I met with Jeffrey Platon, senior director, technology marketing for security at Cisco, to find out more about what will become of the Okena intrusion-detection and security enforcement software.

Okena makes software called StormWatch designed to protect servers and desktops against both known and unknown attacks through what is known as "behavior-blocking," which seeks to stop attacks aimed at the desktop or server by preventing unauthorized actions such as tampering with registry files, for example.

This alleviates the need to have a specific "signature" to detect and stop a virus, worm or hacker buffer-overflow attack that might carry out these kinds of harmful actions. However, this type of host-based intrusion-prevention software is not necessarily viewed as a replacement for anti-virus software. It's regarded more as an important adjunct to prevent the harm done by some viruses or worms before the precise nature of them is widely known and a signature antidote prepared by anti-virus software firms.

According to Platon, Cisco will integrate management of Okena into own CiscoWorks management platform during the next three months. Cisco expects to phase out support for the Okena management console by fall, he said.

In addition, Cisco will be taking the basic Okena intrusion-prevention technology and adapting it to protect some of Cisco's products, including Call Manager and the IP telephony Application Manager. The Okena software won't become a mandatory part of those management components, "but a preferred bundle," said Platon, for those that want to take certain pro-active security measures.

Cisco is also looking at extending the Okena technology to work on PDAs and Web-enabled cell phones, in addition to creating a version for HP-UX.

"Our vision is to ensure that when we build the converged network, that safety is part of that foundation," Platon said.

Another development around Okena is that Cisco will be selling it through indirect channels, such as IBM or Unisys, for example. Reseller channels are now entering into training for the Okena policy-enforcement software. Okena has a clientele list that includes the National Security Agency and University of California at Berkeley, but Cisco expects to see broader adoption of Okena through attractive pricing in the future, including volume discounts.

Back to Security Notes

Comments

Article intéressant sur la sécurisation du CCM.

Posted by: Christophe Niclaes on May 20, 2003 09:21 AM

Sécurisation du CCM

Posted by: Jean-Pierre Bianchi on May 20, 2003 09:22 AM

Post a comment

Name:


E-mail address:


URL:


Comments:


Remember info?