SecureData, a member of the JSE-listed ERP.com Group, and the African distributor for TippingPoint Technologies, a division of 3Com, today announced that the latter's TippingPoint 5000E Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) was one of only three products to pass the first-ever network IPS certification testing administered by ICSA Labs, an independent division of Cybertrust. TippingPoint passed 100% of all security, performance and administrative criteria and achieved a high throughput rating (3.0Gbps) and remarkably low latency (84 microseconds).
ICSA Labs, the leading independent authority for certification of security products, created the worldwide certification specifically to test network IPS products and services based on criteria created by industry experts, corporate end user feedback and input from a consortium of 17 network IPS vendors. To achieve certification, products must pass rigorous tests including vulnerability-driven testing, evasion testing, denial-of-service testing, administrative testing and latency testing. The certification is granted only to those products that pass 100% of the tests administered by ICSA Labs. Of the 10 vendors tested, TippingPoint proved to be the only vendor to attain the certification for multi-gigabit speeds with latency under 100 microseconds.
"To be effective in an enterprise network environment, in-line network security devices must possess three qualities: low latency, high throughput and blocking effectiveness," commented Richard Stiennon, IT-Harvest's chief research analyst. "Excelling in third-party evaluations such as ICSA Labs' IPS certification should give customers the confidence that a device is ready to support the rigors of network security."
To qualify for certification, an IPS device must satisfy in its entirety the latest version of the ICSA Labs Network IPS Corporate Certification Testing Criteria. The test suite is comprised of hundreds of individual test cases focusing on three main areas of security coverage, network performance and administrative ability:
* Security coverage tests: To achieve certification, the IPS candidate had to repeatedly block attacks while under much stress. The device had to block attacks while 80% of rated throughput (the vendor-specified throughput at which the device was tested) was consumed by real background traffic. ICSA Labs used a vulnerability set comprised of 219 recent, remotely exploitable, medium-to-high severity vulnerabilities for which there are known exploits and worms. In a real-world setting, these tests demonstrated the IPS device's ability to proactively protect against exploits of vulnerabilities rather than its ability to reactively protect against specific attacks with filters written after the vulnerability is exposed. TippingPoint's vulnerability filters are written to protect against any attack seeking to exploit the vulnerability, offering much broader and more thorough protection than filters written for specific attacks.
* Network performance tests: Verifying consistent throughput and low latency of the device while passing real-world traffic and blocking attacks is another requirement for certification. The TippingPoint 5000E achieved a throughput of 3.0Gbps and a low latency of only 84 microseconds.
* Administrative tests: Verifying the IPS device's logging and reporting capabilities and its automatic protection update functionality is another requirement for certification. ICSA Labs also evaluated the documentation accompanying the device for its ability to accurately guide an end-user in both the set up process and in performing various administrative functions.
"We are extremely impressed that TippingPoint received ICSA Labs Network IPS certification as we know it was a very tough test that only a select few products passed," added Craig Froelich, senior vice-president of enterprise security at Countrywide Financial Corporation.
For further information, please contact Andrew Ochse at telephone +27 (011) 257 8600; fax +27 (011) 257 8699; e-mail andrewo@securedata.co.za.
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TippingPoint, a division of 3Com, is the leading provider of network-based intrusion prevention systems that deliver in-depth application protection, infrastructure protection and performance protection for corporate enterprises, government agencies, service providers and academic institutions. Our innovative approach offers customers unmatched network-based security with unrivalled economics, ultra-high performance, scalability and reliability. TippingPoint is based in Austin, Texas.
3Com
3Com is a leading provider of secure, converged voice and data networking solutions for enterprises of all sizes. 3Com offers a broad line of innovative products backed by world-class sales, service and support, which excel at delivering business value for its customers. When customers exercise choice, their choice is 3Com.
SecureData
SecureData, an ERP.com company, is Africa's premier IT security solution provider. SecureData's solutions incorporate anti-virus and content security, endpoint security, network security, intrusion prevention and authentication and identity management. SecureData's comprehensive "Managed Security Services" include design, audit, implementation, vulnerability assessment, out sourcing and hosting. SecureData distributes, sells and supports category leading IT security products to the public, corporate and SME sectors throughout Africa as well as products and services to the SOHO and consumer markets through partnerships with ISPs. As well as being the sole distributor in Sub-Saharan Africa for Trend Micro, SecureData is the Sub-Saharan African distributor for US-based TippingPoint Technologies as well as for AirDefense, Application Security, eEye, Network Engines, Precise Biometrics, Rocket Software, RSA Security, St Bernard and Websense. For more information, visit SecureData at www.securedata.co.za.
ERP.com
ERP.com is a JSE-listed company focused on the implementation, integration and management of enterprise applications in an e-business environment. For more information, visit ERP.com at www.erpcom.co.za.
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