DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / OCTOBER 13, 2003: VOL. 2 NO. 41    ( Table of Contents )

Breaking News - Security:

Lancope StealthWatch 3.1 Keeps Eye On File Sharing Activity

Lancope Inc, a leading provider of behavior-based threat detection and network intelligence solutions, announced the general availability of the StealthWatch 3.1 release, which provides customers innovative behavior-based detection of unauthorized file sharing activity, advanced Syslog Support and DNS resolution for improved policy enforcement, interoperability and ease-of-use. This latest release further enables users to more effectively and efficiently protect and manage their network resources.

"Many corporate users may not be aware, or are completely ignorant, of the IT resource consumption associated with listening to online music or watching streaming media from their desktops," said Brian Burke, analyst for IDC. "In addition, applications acquired through insecure Grid computing or P2P (peer-to-peer) protocols often enter the corporate environment without being scanned for viruses or malicious code."

Taking an aggressive stance against digital copyright infringement, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is collecting evidence against P2P users and preparing lawsuits against file sharers who illegally offer music online. In a recent example, Integrated Information Systems, a high-tech company, paid RIAA $1 million in an out-of-court settlement, after the company allegedly permitted its employees to share copyrighted MP3 files on its corporate network.

In spite of these risks, a study by Ottawa-based AssetMetrix Research Labs of P2P file sharing activity in 560 companies found that approximately 77 percent of all corporations had file sharing activity and that one in 25 employees was using P2P applications. Despite pervasive use of file sharing applications, a recent CIO survey estimated that 64 percent of companies do not monitor music or video downloads.

"Continuous network availability and protection of confidential information remain critical business issues, but the growing threat of substantial legal and financial penalties is severe," said Harland LaVigne, president and CEO of Lancope. "Increasingly, companies recognize that widespread P2P usage and other unauthorized file sharing applications pose considerable security risks, consume valuable network resources and expose the organization to significant legal and financial liability. With StealthWatch 3.1, companies can minimize security, legal and financial risks while maximizing utilization of network resources by identifying and eliminating employee use of file sharing technologies."

Key new features introduced in StealthWatch 3.1:

• StealthWatch 3.1 provides enhanced detection of file sharing applications, regardless of their obfuscation techniques, that expose organizations to significant security and legal risk by transmitting sensitive data and sharing copyrighted materials both inside and outside the network. The new File Sharing Index (FSI), which correlates host connectivity statistics across the network to identify host behavior indicative of unauthorized file sharing activity, enables rapid identification and easy elimination of risk as well as ensures optimal utilization of network resources.

• For enhanced interoperability, StealthWatch now provides a central source and common format from which to view or process alarms and informational messages via Syslog. The Syslog support stores system log outputs in a local repository or sends them to user-specified remote servers. Messages logged in the System Log provide a high-level source for mining data from alarms as well as audit trails for system and application configuration changes. This feature supports advanced integration options for StealthWatch with industry-leading security management applications and Managed Security Service Providers.

• For enhanced usability, StealthWatch now provides support for DNS resolution and displays host names both on the screen and in reports. With easy-to-comprehend human-readable domain names replacing complex numerical IP addresses, StealthWatch users can now more easily manage and monitor their security posture and network operations.