Network General Solutions Help Financial Institutions Reduce the Risk of Loss, Modification or Misuse of Financial Information During Online Transactions

Business Wire, Dec 7, 2004

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- As the use of real-time electronic exchange of securities via online trading and transactions continues to grow, troubleshooting and monitoring has become vital to ensure that financial institutions' networks handle these transactions in real-time. Network General(TM) Corporation, the leading developer and provider of award-winning solutions for network and application performance management, can help financial institutions troubleshoot traffic performance problems with its Sniffer(R) protocol analysis solutions which include the capability to decode the Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol.

"In the competitive world of online trading, unexpected downtime is simply not an option, and as the use of applications based on the FIX protocol continues to grow throughout the financial industry, managing these environments has become very critical," said Sangram Dange, product manager for Network General. "With Sniffer protocol analysis solutions, FIX users are able to tune, configure, troubleshoot or simply gain insight into a standard that supports their critical financial applications."

FIX is a globally recognized messaging standard enabling the electronic communication of pre-trade and trade messages between financial institutions, primarily investment managers, broker/dealers, Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs) and stock exchanges. Network managers implement the FIX protocol because it helps minimize business risk by preventing loss, modification or misuse of financial information exchanged between organizations. The Sniffer FIX protocol analysis solution empowers network managers with the unique capabilities to reassemble and view related fragments of FIX traffic, and display multiple financial transactions contained within a single packet. These unique features enable faster time to resolution by making it easier to identify where, when and why a problem occurred.

"The addition of the FIX protocol decode to the high-performance functionality that Network General solutions traditionally deliver ensures the ability to troubleshoot and analyze FIX-based applications allowing fast access to the network information that is required to keep financial institutions' networks up and running smoothly every day," said Jeff Sowell, Network Support Manager at Austin Bank.

The Network General FIX protocol decode is available on Sniffer Distributed 4.5, s6040 1.5, and the Netasyst(TM) Network Analyzer, and is scheduled to be on the next release of Sniffer Portable 4.8 which is expected in the first half of 2005. This decode is currently available in the Sniffer Decode and Expert Pack 1. Customers with a valid support agreement can obtain Pack 1 from the Network General Web site at www.networkgeneral.com.

About Network General Corporation

Network General(TM) Corporation, a privately-held company based in San Jose, California, is the leading developer and provider of award-winning solutions for network and application performance management. The Network General portfolio consists of a family of integrated hardware and software products, including the industry-leading Sniffer(R) solutions that enable the management of complex, high-speed networks covering virtually all wireless and wired network topologies and protocols, and the applications that traverse these networks. Supporting the widest range of network topologies in the industry, Network General solutions enable enterprises, small and medium businesses, and service providers worldwide to effectively keep their networks and applications up and running at peak performance, 24x7. For more information on Network General, dial 1-408-571-5000 or go to www.networkgeneral.com.

NOTE: Network General and Sniffer are registered trademarks or trademarks of Network General Corporation. Only Network General Corporation makes Sniffer(R) brand products. All other registered and unregistered trademarks herein are the sole property of their respective owners.