Enterasys Networks' Dynamic Intrusion Response Solution Is Information Security Magazine's 'Hot Pick'

Business Wire, March 3, 2005

ANDOVER, Mass. -- Magazine hails DIR as 'intriguing approach' to full integration of security and network devices, and praises the Dragon IDS for detecting 'everything we threw at it'

Enterasys Networks(R) (NYSE: ETS), the Secure Networks Company(TM), today announced that Information Security magazine has named the company's Dynamic Intrusion Response (DIR) security solution the "Hot Pick" in intrusion prevention in its March issue.

In its independent review, Information Security said that the DIR solution leverages Enterasys' "strength as a network infrastructure products company and its popular IDS, the Dragon Intrusion Defense System. The result is a powerful, centrally managed intrusion prevention system that enforces security down to the switch level." The magazine obtained the solution from Enterasys and ran its own capabilities tests.

DIR, one of Enterasys Networks' portfolio of Secure Networks(TM) solutions, detects abnormal behavior on the enterprise network, then intervenes to quarantine the offending user or affected device: thereby mitigating the threat and protecting the enterprise network against both known and undocumented security risks.

The DIR solution features the Dragon IDS and NetSight(TM), Enterasys' suite of network management software, which includes the Automated Security Manager (ASM). ASM takes security events from Dragon, locates the exact port on the switch where attacks are entering the network, and takes action on the port, stopping the threat. DIR also leverages another core Enterasys Secure Networks solution--Acceptable Use Policy--a unique, role-based system that allows the network to provision required business services to users or devices automatically, based on their policy definition, while preventing undesirable and malicious traffic from entering the infrastructure.

"Dragon, one of the best IDSes on the market, is the heart of DIR. Our Dragon Network Sensor detected everything we threw at it, including buffer-overflow exploits, published OS vulnerabilities and e-mail worms," according to the magazine.

The review also praised ASM for its pivotal role in "coordinating intrusion detection and response. It translates the data received from Dragon via SNMP traps into policy-based enforcement action on the switches, using Enterasys' proprietary algorithms and network mapping to pinpoint suspect devices."

The article concluded: "The DIR architecture combines one of the most popular IDSes with a powerful security management system and the switching hardware of an established vendor. Overall, it's an intriguing approach that represents a big step toward the full integration of security and network devices."

The Enterasys Secure Networks Advantage

Enterasys' industry-leading Secure Networks technology and solutions provide the highest level of infrastructure security available today. Secure Networks delivers the most granular level of security, providing visibility and control down to the network device, individual user and application level. This enables enterprises to quickly and easily detect, assess, locate and protect against attacks. This unmatched security comes from the integrated policy-based management software architecture that works with the embedded security capabilities Enterasys designs into its entire product line. This unique approach offers significant operational and business benefits, unmatched by vendor offerings that add hardware or software to multiple network access points in an attempt to increase security. In fact, Secure Networks technology can even make networks with competitors' equipment more secure.

About Enterasys Networks

Enterasys Networks is the Secure Networks Company, providing enterprise customers with innovative network infrastructure products, services and solutions that deliver the security, productivity and adaptability benefits required by Global 2000 organizations. For more information on Enterasys Secure Networks and the company's products, including multilayer switches, core routers, WAN routers, wireless LANs, network management, and intrusion defense systems, visit www.enterasys.com.

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