I wasn't sure if this was posted yet. I'll be curious to see what NETA does in enterprise class firewalls as they indicate they are still 'blueprinting' that. That space is dominated by CHKPF. Overall , a very interesting vision - which NETA has been marketing for a while 'Security and Network Management Company'. BTW, I saw a TV commercial the other day for NETA - with a sexy lady maneuvering her way in to 'steal your company's data'!
-Jay
_________
Network Associates plots
strategy
By Tim Clark
January 8, 1998, 4:25 p.m. PT
Capping an acquisitions binge late last year, Network
Associates (NETA) on Monday will outline a strategic
blueprint for network security and encryption.
It builds on antivirus applications from McAfee,
intrusion detection hardware and software from
Network General, and desktop encryption and secure
email technologies and products from Pretty Good
Privacy. Network Associates is the resulting company
from the merger of McAfee and Network General.
In addition to those homegrown and acquired
technologies, Network Associates also has built into its
blueprint a place for its partners in SecureOne, a
security framework McAfee announced in July with
encryption firm RSA Data Security, its parent Security
Dynamics, and certificate authority VeriSign.
Network Associates also sees a role in its blueprint for
new partners, such as firewall and virtual private
network (VPN) companies.
Its security strategy will be embodied in a suite of
products called Net Tools Secure. Network Associates
also intends to develop a single, central management
console for enterprise security, aiming to simplify for
IS managers a bewildering array of security
technologies.
"We hope the blueprint will drive a consolidation
among industry standards," Gene Hodges, Network
Associates' director of security and virus product
marketing, said in an interview. The company thinks
fewer standards will make security software work
together and make management easier.
The strategy is built upon antivirus software, the
technology legacy from McAfee Associates and a
strength that chief executive William Larson thinks will
give Network Associates an entree into the broader
corporate security market.
"There's lots of evidence that markets will consolidate
around the most popular application," Larson said in an
October 1997 interview. A recent Zona Research
report noted that antivirus software is by far the most
popular security application in enterprises.
In addition to antivirus software, Hodges said Network
Associates' blueprint covers security tools for desktop
encryption, secure email, authentication and digital
certificates, intrusion detection, encrypted virtual
disks, firewalls, VPNs, and other forms of secure
intranets and extranets.
He said PGP technologies would be used for desktop
encryption, secure email, and authentication via
certificates; Network General's CyberCop for intrusion
detection; and McAfee's antivirus, VPN, and firewall
technologies.
"It's important that people understand our objective is
to give an integration capability that our partners can
use," Hodges said, seeking to reassure RSA, Security
Dynamics, and VeriSign. "The integration would occur
at the policy management level."
The centralized console would allow security chiefs to
create and manage security policies for all those
technologies from a single point. Those policies
address such issues as which individuals can see
sensitive data, whether certain email messages must be
encrypted, what kind of software code can be
downloaded from the Internet, which Web sites might
be off limits, and others.
Network Associates said the same console potentially
could manage devices such as smart cards,
authentication tokens (such as Security Dynamics'
SecurID), and biometric devices such as fingerprint
readers or voice recognition systems.
The proposed new security management console will
be similar to earlier consoles from McAfee and
Network General. It could potentially compete with
management consoles from Computer Associates and
perhaps even Hewlett-Packard and IBM's Tivoli unit.
No time frame has been offered on when Network
General's console may become available.
Network General will outline its strategy Monday at
RSA's annual conference in San Francisco. The
company also is expected to name a prominent new
partner for its Viper antivirus technology.
In addition, a certificate authority from Utah called
Arcanvs is expected to announce it will offer digital
certificates based on PGP technology. Also, CBT
Systems is expected to include training on Network
General products in its launch Monday of its Internet
Security Courseware Consortium. |
