SecureData, a member of the JSE-listed ERP.com Group, and the African distributor for TippingPoint Technologies, today announced the availability and open source release of Tomahawk, the first test tool designed specifically to evaluate the unique capabilities of network-based intrusion prevention systems (IPS).
"TippingPoint is contributing Tomahawk to the public to make IPS testing easier and more affordable for end-users," commented TippingPoint's Chief Technology Officer Marc Willebeek-LeMair.
"By enabling users to evaluate security, performance and usability in real world environments, we believe it will accelerate the adoption of intrusion prevention and confirm its necessity in today's threat environment. We believe the benefit of open sourcing the tool to facilitate IPS testing outweighs the potential benefits of commercialising the tool."
An IPS is as much a networking device as it is a security device. Customers should be confident that the IPS they buy will not adversely impact their network and will perform security functions accurately. Although intrusion prevention systems are gaining mainstream acceptance and recognised as a best practice technology, tools for evaluating these systems are still primitive. Designed for testing other security products, current tools are expensive, limited in functionality and unable to simulate the heavy load of real networks under attack.
TippingPoint developed Tomahawk to test the first network-based IPS in 2002, and has been perfecting the tool ever since. Tomahawk evaluates network performance (throughput and latency) with security accuracy while simulating real world environments. With Tomahawk, end-users can test very high throughput with realistic traffic mixes and ensure malicious traffic is blocked while legitimate traffic reaches its destination.
Through the open source community, Tomahawk can receive extended testing and development, end-users can set up their own IPS test beds free of charge, and IPS will reach a broader audience for testing. TippingPoint's goal in open-sourcing Tomahawk is to cultivate education on IPS capabilities and improve IPS testing through test tool transparency.
TippingPoint's UnityOne provides application protection, performance protection and infrastructure protection at gigabit speeds through total packet inspection. Application protection capabilities provide fast, accurate, reliable protection from internal and external cyber attacks. Through its infrastructure protection capabilities, UnityOne protects VOIP infrastructure, routers, switches, DNS and other critical infrastructure from targeted attacks and traffic anomalies. UnityOne performance protection capabilities enable customers to throttle non-mission-critical applications that hijack valuable bandwidth and IT resources, thereby aligning network resources and business-critical application performance.
For further information, please contact Andrew Ochse at telephone +27 11 257 8600; fax +27 11 257 8699; e-mail andrewo@securedata.co.za
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TippingPoint Technologies, based in Austin, Texas, USA, is the leading provider of network-based intrusion prevention systems that deliver in-depth protection and attach eradication for corporate enterprises, government agencies, service providers and academic institutions. Its innovative approach offers customers an effective network-based security solution with unrivalled economics, ultra-high performance, scalability and reliability.
SecureData
SecureData, an ERP.com company, is Africa's premier IT security solution provider. SecureData's solutions incorporate anti-virus and content security, network security, intrusion prevention software and network asset management. SecureData's comprehensive "Managed Security Services" include design, audit, implementation, vulnerability assessment, outsourcing 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 and Trend Micro, SecureData is the African distributor for US-based TippingPoint Technologies and the southern African distributor for US-based BorderWare, US-based RSA Security and UK-based Centennial. 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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