NetIQ Solutions Unite Security and Configuration Management to Streamline Incident Response

Market Wire, November, 2006

NetIQ Corporation, a business unit of Attachmate, today announced the upcoming release of NetIQ® Security Manager(TM) (SM) 5.6 and NetIQ® Secure Configuration Manager(TM) (SCM) 5.6, formerly known as NetIQ® Vulnerability Manager(TM). These latest versions unite security information and event management and security configuration management to further streamline incident management, accelerate problem resolution, demonstrate compliance and ensure business service continuity.

Combined, SM 5.6 and SCM 5.6 reduce the time and resources required to identify, triage and remediate security incidents by incorporating real-time configuration and change management data into the incident management workflow. Additionally, they automate the incident response process, allowing organizations to demonstrate due care for compliance initiatives, mitigate risk through confirmation of proper IT controls and improve overall IT governance across the enterprise.

The convergence of technology to create an automated incident management capability is an emerging trend. According to Gartner, through 2008, security information and event management (SIEM) technologies will expand capabilities to provide a pre-incident vulnerability and threat assessment view of the IT environment. This will enable enterprises to implement tools that support the full incident timeline, from pre-incident policy creation and assessment, incident auditing and monitoring through post-incident forensics and historical analysis.(1)

Process Efficiency

Many enterprises continue to struggle with security incident response, demanding improved efficiencies to reach faster problem resolution. Providing more intelligent information around incidents streamlines decision-making and helps eliminate resolution bottlenecks.

NetIQ SM 5.6 helps better identify true incidents and blended threats in real time, while facilitating a prioritized, tracked and informed response. Features and enhancements include:

--  State-of-the-Art User Interface: produces customized views of security
    data captured from multiple sources, including real-time events,
    consolidated log files, OLAP cubes and summary event data
--  Improved Access Control: supports multiple user roles during incident
    response without compromising administrator integrity
--  Reporting Flexibility: allows for creation and viewing of reports
    based on audience and priority
    

Improving Remediation

Incident response is also improved by identifying system changes, modified user accounts, signs of compromise and other potential problems. These indicators are best exposed by evaluating system configurations. Through advanced alerting and security configuration data, enterprises can better resolve incidents and remediate their causes.

NetIQ's SCM continuously provides security knowledge about host systems, database servers and Web servers. This helps users automatically identify security flaws, allowing enterprises to audit their systems in real time and perform remediation activities on a priority basis. SCM 5.6 includes the following features and enhancements:

--  Exceptions Management: allows enterprises to easily manage discovered
    policy exceptions, or waivers, based on business practicalities
--  Trouble Ticket Integration: integrates with ticketing systems to
    provide IT Operations sufficient information to triage, invoke and track
    remediation processes
--  Enhanced Reporting: automates baseline reporting to detect
    configuration drift or compromised assets
    

"As a market leader in security and vulnerability management, NetIQ has a long history of delivering solutions that squarely address enterprises' complex security management issues," said Chris Pick, VP NetIQ Products & Marketing. "With the combined capabilities of our latest versions of NetIQ SM and NetIQ SCM, no other vendor provides a similar combination of integrated information, event and configuration management functionality to radically accelerate incident resolution and enable proactive security operations management."

Pricing and Availability

NetIQ Security Manager 5.6 and NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager 5.6 will be available in early December 2006. SM 5.6 pricing starts at $1,155 per server and SCM 5.6 pricing starts at $1,100 per server. Bundled pricing is available. For more information, visit www.netiq.com .

About Attachmate

Attachmate, owned by an investment group led by Francisco Partners, Golden Gate Capital and Thoma Cressey Equity Partners, enables IT organizations to extend mission critical services and assures they are managed, secure and compliant. In June 2006, NetIQ Corporation joined the Attachmate family of companies, offering leading solutions in host connectivity, systems and security management, and PC lifecycle management. Our goal is to empower IT organizations to deliver trusted applications, manage service levels, and ensure compliance by leveraging knowledge, automation and secured connectivity. For more information, visit www.attachmate.com .