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Technology Stocks : WAVX Anyone? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: webinfopro.com who wrote (7595)	6/28/1999 11:29:00 AM
From: B Spears	Respond to of 11417

From todays Red Herring online news letter. A nice review of the need for corporate security. I don't see WAVE mentioned but it does codify the need for a solution similar to WAVEs. Included are some other links from this newsletter concerning corporate security. Bob Spears redherring.com sonicsys.com redherring.com Break down the firewalls By Owen Thomas Red Herring Online January 18, 1999 SAN JOSE -- There's nothing secure about the security market. In fact, vendors are finding the field downright fickle. In his opening address at the RSA Data Security Conference Monday, Jim Bidzos, president of Security Dynamics' (SDTI) RSA subsidiary, made a point of dissing firewalls. A year ago, firewalls -- software and hardware systems that prevent unauthorized access to networks -- were hot. Check Point Software Technologies (CHKPF) stood tall as other competitors looked to get bought out. Network Associates paid a premium to get its hands on Trusted Information Systems and its Gauntlet firewall -- even though integrating TIS with all its other acquisitions posed headaches. SAME OLD SONG Now, apparently, they're old hat. Mr. Bidzos had a gospel choir on stage singing the network security blues to the tune of a U2 song: "I installed a firewall, crypto products -- I bought them all, only to be confused ... and I still haven't found what I'm looking for." In his address, Mr. Bidzos argued that buyers for corporate security products are looking for more complete solutions, and want to depend less on hard-to-integrate products that don't play well together. Hewlett-Packard (HWP) rolled out new and improved security products -- including a firewall licensed from Raptor, a Check Point competitor. The Palo Alto computing giant also laid out a product road map that aimed at getting rid of firewalls altogether. "Tear down the walls," said Roberto Medrano, general manager of HP's Internet security operation. In HP's vision of a "virtual corporation," as articulated by Mr. Medrano, network security and integrity will be omnipresent, not concentrated at access points to the outside like conventional firewalls. Mark Elliott, a Check Point product manager, is a bit skeptical of HP's plans. At present, he says, firewalls are "a darned good business." (Check Point will announce quarterly earnings on Wednesday.) "It's more mature in the product lifestyle, so it's not as sexy," says Mr. Elliott. "But whether you call it a firewall, a black box, a router," you still need security at points where traffic is centralized, he adds. "We're an aggregation-point security device," says Mr. Elliott. In other words, if your first buzzword doesn't succeed, try, try again. UNDER LOCK AND KEY Meanwhile, the buzz at the conference has turned to public-key infrastructure systems, or PKI. "We've said that public-key cryptography is a solution in search of a problem, and e-commerce is that problem," said Mr. Bidzos. PKI systems manage digital certificates used to verify the identities of online merchants and consumers, as well as to control access to corporate networks. John Ryan, CEO of Entrust Technologies (ENTU), isn't thrown by the attention. "We're selling infrastructure, and that's a darned good place to be" even when the attention fades, he says. Competitors are certainly paying attention. British security consultancy Zergo Holdings acquired Irish firm Baltimore Technologies last week, adding to its pull in the PKI market, especially in Europe and Asia. And RSA -- which had up to now mainly licensed encryption technology and sold development toolkits -- announced Monday that it and corporate parent Security Dynamics would enter the PKI market with a new product line called Keon, and sell directly to the same corporate market Entrust has been serving. The flurry of PKI announcements may create some excitement -- but it's still not clear that security vendors have found what the market is looking for. Looking at all this, HP's Mr. Medrano has a sense of déjà vu. "The PKI market today reminds me of the firewall market in '95 and '96," he says. "There were 40 firewall vendors back then." He should know: He was previously a vice president at firewall vendor Milkyway Networks