A host of security vendors are set to roll out everything from intrusion-prevention gear to SSL VPN equipment at Interop this week.
This focus on securing networks is not surprising considering that 59% of respondents to the most recent Network World survey say they plan to spend more on security than they did last year, and Interop is a place to shop.
RadWare, Array Networks, Fortinet and NeoAccel will demonstrate products at the show.
RadWare will launch its DefensePro 100 security appliance for adding intrusion-prevention system (IPS ) and bandwidth management capabilities to corporate branch offices. The device, which supports up to 100M bit/sec scanning throughput, is a smaller version of RadWare’s 3G bit/sec DefensePro 300 and 200 series switches, used in ISPs and large corporate networks.
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The DefensePro 100 sits between a WAN router link and a LAN inside a branch office. It scans all incoming and outgoing traffic for more than 1,500 virus, worm and Trojan signatures. Malicious traffic can be dropped or re-directed to a secure quarantine segment of a LAN, according to RadWare.
The device also can detect irregular network traffic patterns, the vendor says. Such patterns that might be part of a new type of network attack can be handled in several ways, RadWare says: Bandwidth for the suspicious packet flow can be squeezed to a trickle, so as not to congest a network pipe; the flow can be mirrored to an administrative PC for forensic inspection; or traffic can be dropped.
The DefensePro 100 also can identify and legitimatize application flows traveling between a branch and main office, such as ERP, e-mail or CRM application streams. The device can be configured to guarantee a specified amount of bandwidth for these applications, even if a WAN pipe is being flooded with traffic from a network attack or worm or broadcast storms from misconfigured network equipment or applications. This is similar to features in products from Packeteer, Peribit and others.
The DefensePro 100 costs $15,000, with virus/worm signature update services costing between $2,000 and $3,000 per year.
Moving in from the branch office to data centers, Array will introduce a VPN box called the SPX5000 that supports up to 64,000 concurrent users connecting via SSL.
With that much capacity, the box is designed to sit between the Internet and busy data centers, authenticating users and establishing what applications users can access. Once connected, the box can direct users to as many as 250 virtual LANs.
In addition to supporting Web-based applications, it can set up Layer 3 connections with remote machines running Windows or Linux.
The device supports a feature called virtual sites, which lets users apply separate policies to up to 128 groups as if each had its own appliance to which it could be connected.
The SPX5000 costs $40,000 to $100,000, depending on configuration and the number of concurrent users it supports.
A second new Array device, this one for offloading SSL traffic from servers, also is designed for large data centers, similar to gear made by Redline Networks and NetScaler.
Called the TMX5000, it compresses traffic to remote users and servers, and accelerates SSL traffic. The box supports copper and fiber Gigabit Ethernet ports.
The TMX5000 has three software options, Web acceleration, e-commerce acceleration and full application front-ending. Pricing was not available.
Smaller SSL VPN offerings than Array’s are on tap from Fortinet and NeoAccel.
Fortinet is announcing that it will include VPN and VoIP support on its Fortigate multifunction security platforms, meaning customers can protect branch offices with one device.
With the SSL VPN software, Fortigate boxes become remoteaccess gateways for users connecting to business sites over the Internet. Once SSL traffic has been decrypted, the devices can further inspect it by running it through virus, intrusion-detection and firewall filters.
The SSL VPN software is in beta tests and is scheduled to be available in the second half of this year.
VoIP support on Fortigate devices consists of helping voice calls cross devices that change IP addresses from private to public, such as firewalls. It also includes the ability to keep track of what firewall ports are dynamically opened by VoIP applications to set up individual calls and makes sure they are closed again when the call is over.
Meanwhile, NeoAccell, whose SSL VPN Plus platform is unique because it also accelerates traffic over a WAN, is announcing Version 4.0, which adds the capability to scan remote machines for proper security configuration before being allowed to access the VPN. The software also cleans up files left on the remote PC during remote-access sessions to prevent unauthorized users from finding confidential data.
The software supports Lightweight Directory Access Protocol look-ups so IT staffs don’t have to copy authentication information into separate directories on the NeoAccell platform.
An early version of its Version 4 software costs $4,000. It runs on Windows- and Linux-based servers.
For its part, 3Com is introducing a managed services offering, through which a company could have a network of 3Com security gear installed and monitored by a carrier or managed service provider. The service involves a software load on 3Com’s TippingPoint intrusion-detection system/IPS hardware, and 3Com VoIP equipment and other network infrastructure, letting a managed service provider monitor the devices.
Carriers would provide device monitoring, health checking and security profile updates for TippingPoint gear deployed at the edge of a customer’s network or between LAN segments inside a firewall. TippingPoint gear inspects live LAN or WAN traffic and filters out worm, virus and denial-of-service attack traffic, or alerts administrators of malicious network activity.
The 3Com service also can apply to 3Com VCX IP PBX equipment and Ethernet LAN gear. Carriers would remotely manage and monitor a corporation’s on-premises 3Com IP PBX while checking the network for voice quality and potential bandwidth problems that might affect VoIP traffic.
Pricing for the services and carrier partners will be announced later this year.
