Security vendors put their heads together

New product releases pour out of the annual RSA conference

This week's RSA show in San Francisco has seen an avalanche of new product releases from vendors keen to bolster corporate defences against spam, spyware, phishing attacks, rootkits, keystroke loggers, identify fraud and unauthorised system access.

Microsoft previewed its new Identity Lifecycle Manager 2007 package, due for release in May, alongside a public beta of its ForeFront Server Security Management Console. The company is also attempting to plug vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer 7 with extended validation secure sockets layer (SSL) certificates.

"We did not do … enough engineering to create intrinsic security in our systems [in the past],” said Microsoft chief research and strategy office, Craig Mundie. “We need to collaborate on specifications but we will need more industry co-operation and partnerships to deliver on this model for new enterprise networks.”

Partnerships also played a big part in several announcements from RSA, the security division of storage giant EMC. The company announced the acquisition of database security and file encryption firm Valyd Software Private to boost its enterprise data protection strategy, plus joint initiatives to share technology and customers with CipherOptics, Decru, Epicor/CRS, NeoScale, McAfee and Privaris.

RSA’s European director for financial services, Andrew Moloney, conceded that even the most sophisticated security systems can be bypassed because of human error. But he argued that better collaboration between security vendors can help them be more dynamic in responding to the risk.

"The degree to which the security industry relies on complicit behaviour is inevitably the weak link. As long was we still have people writing passwords on post-it notes, we have a problem," Moloney said.

Also at the event, Symantec introduced its first network access control (NAC) package, while Sophos announced NAC 3.0, touting it as a simpler way to implement network access control.

Trend Micro unveiled a beta version of ScanMail for Exchange 2007, with a commercial product set for April, designed to analyse Exchange email for spam, phishing attacks, viruses, spyware and inappropriate content.

"We have a much smaller code size and higher stability than rivals like Symantec. The differentiation for us is better uptime and lower ongoing administration because the mail keeps on flowing," said Trend Micro’s global product marketing director, David Finger.

Elsewhere, Ingrian Networks launched a new solution, File Systems Connector, designed to encrypt structured and unstructured data on enterprise servers and support compliance requirements such as the Payment Card Initiative (PCI) Data Security Standard.

"We already did granular level encryption at the database and the application level but our customers said they wanted a single vendor solution, which also has granular and file-based encryption," said the firm's European sales manager, Jon Shaw. "This is not network intensive as it offloads to a high-performance device sitting on the network.”

Secure Computing announced that it had integrated the TrustedSource reputation system to help firms filter out unwanted traffic, as well as VoIP security and unified policy management into its Sidewinder firewall. Meanwhile, an updated Webwasher gateway security appliance now checks active content like Windows executables for malicious code.

ActivIdentity used the show to announce that its identity and access management products now support Microsoft Vista and Sun's Solaris 10 operating system on SPARC and x64/x86 platforms. The move will enable firms running multiple operating systems to implement single sign-on, strong authentication solutions and converge physical and network access into a single card, according to ActivIdentity's Marc Hudavert.

"Very few firms are 100 percent Microsoft or 100 percent Sun shops; most are [a combination], and one of our unique selling points is being able to offer a solution on a heterogenous set of platforms," he added.