RSA Security Conference & The Latest Security Technologies—What's the ROI?

Business Wire, Feb 20, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

RSA Conference 2002

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 20, 2002

Hundreds of security vendors are touting the latest and greatest computer security solutions this week at the RSA Security Conference in San Jose, Calif. When it comes down to choosing from these various products or services, the following factors are important:

- The ability of the technology to prevent damage from common attacks and new
threats that will hit in the future.

- The impact of integrating new solutions into the existing security
infrastructure, including custom or legacy applications that businesses depend
upon.

- The impact on IT resources (how much time & effort it takes to install the
protection and to maintain the high-level of security needed).

But the most critical factor in any decision about purchasing a security solution, whether the economy is up or down, is return on investment (ROI). Organizations demand that technology purchases be justified with a demonstrable ROI. The crowded, competitive nature of the security market presents new challenges to buyers who must evaluate the cost benefits of the various available security technologies. In developing groundbreaking intrusion prevention solutions, OKENA, Inc. has defined a new way for buyers to examine ROI to help as they evaluate the broad spectrum of solutions available. Here are OKENA's five tips for evaluating ROI:

1. Technology Substitution Effect--Redundant, duplicate technologies can be substituted or replaced on the server and desktop.

2. No signature update burden--Implementing and maintaining signature updates on a regular basis is time-consuming and costly and often does not happen in time to prevent attacks.

3. Reduced Exposure between Vulnerabilities--With traditional solutions, systems remain completely exposed to the current threat(s) as signatures are tested prior to deployment.

4. False Positives Minimized--Pattern/signature matching technologies produce a high number of false positives, which crowd administrative consoles, reduce the effectiveness of the product and administrator, and force IT staff to respond to needless security alerts.

5. Less Downtime--Loss of information, loss of reputation and process of rebuilding systems ensues the longer the signature update race continues.

Whereas in the past, security was treated as an afterthought and the industry profited by selling on the premise of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD), today's enterprises recognize that security technologies are business enablers and are ready to spend... but they need to do it wisely. By 2005, International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts the Internet security market will tally more than $14 billion a year in revenue, up from $5.1 billion in the year 2000.

Leading Security Expert from OKENA, Inc. Available to Discuss Return on Investment

Tom Turner, director of marketing at OKENA, has recently lead an initiative to study ROI in today's security marketplace. Many pragmatic factors need to be considered in realistically assessing a security implementation. Mr. Turner is available to discuss obtaining the maximum ROI when evaluating security options. If you would like to speak with Tom Turner about the ROI for intrusion prevention technologies and security in general, please contact Meghan Fitzgerald at Schwartz Communications, (781) 684-0770 (okena@schwartz-pr.com).

To access and use an automated "Security ROI" calculator for Intrusion Prevention security and to view OKENA's full security ROI analysis, visit OKENA's Web site at www.okena.com.