Network Security : Protection Guaranteed

Today, computer networks are expanding and they are running a plethora of
applications that in turn drive the businesses of enterprises. This has given
rise to new challenges of securing these networks. An effective network security
strategy requires identifying threats and then choosing the most effective set
of tools to combat them.

Lurking threats

For enterprises, security threats pour in from all directions. These could
be in the form of unauthorized access, malicious misuse, virtual insiders (by
planting a Trojan inside the infrastructure to obtain information), viruses,
data leakage, online fraud, phishing and access attacks. Though the security
threats remain almost the same year by year, they simply assume new avatars
every time they appear.

B Raghunandan, Consulting Manager-Technical Sales, Computer Associates said,
“Malware always have been the top most challenge that the industry has been
facing. The payloads of many of these have been to disrupt availability, thieve
data and so on. Yet another issue that has seen a rise in the recent past is
unauthorized access to data from both internal as well as external users. There
have been attempts to thieve away critical information like intellectual
property, credit card information etc.”

According to Vikas Desai, Lead Technology Consultant-India and SAARC, RSA
most customers look at network security as an end-point solution but a smart
hacker will carry out a series of end-point attacks, one at a time thus
achieving a well spread out attack without getting caught. He suggested that one
way to address all possible security threats on a network is through a SIEM
solution like RSA enVision, which gives a single view of the whole organization.

Network security solutions

Anti-virus packages, securing network infrastructure, virtual private
networks, identity services and encryption all fall under the tag of network
security. Tushar Sighat, VP-Operations, Cyberoam, Elitecore Technologies
believes that every organization is susceptible to different kinds of threats
and therefore, each network security needs to be customized.

To this, Raghunandan added that a holistic network security solution can be
achieved through a comprehensive set of identity and access management
solutions.

Bhaskar Bakthavatsalu, Country Manager-India and SAARC, Check Point opined
that it is extremely important for customers to invest in Intrusion Prevention
Systems (IPS), which detects and blocks attacks and threats aimed at data and
network resources. “The driver for integrated IPS is a deluge of attacks
exploiting vulnerabilities in the application layer. Web applications comprised
almost 55 percent of all vulnerability disclosures in 2008. Attacks based on
these vulnerabilities often evade usual port/protocol defenses established by a
firewall, so detection requires deep-packet inspection with intrusion
prevention. But mere inspection of packets at a deep level is not enough,” he
explained. He suggested that customers should invest in IPS blade servers, which
quickly inspects for attacks only on relevant sections of the traffic, thus
reducing overheads and increasing accuracy.

SPs to Security Consultants

Despite the slowdown, it has been noted that customers have continued to
invest in security and therefore, solution providers (SPs) are looking at this
space with renewed interest. Verticals such as government, education, BFSI, and
telecom are now being regarded by vendors as the highest spenders on network
security. Furthermore, an important fact is that partners need to have clarity
in the requirement of the organization where they intend to deploy solutions.
Therefore, the question that remains is whether the partners have enough
knowledge to offer the right kind of consultation services to the customers.

Kartik Sahani, Regional Director, McAfee feels that SPs are yet to learn
about more complex and newer technologies that are foraying into the market but
they are quite adept at offering most solutions that have been around for a
while. “Technologies such as network IP and gateway solutions, partners are well
geared towards offering this to the customers. They are well-prepared to sell it
in the market,” he elaborated.

In order to address this issue about new technologies in the market and
training them to become security consultants, most vendors are carrying our
various SP training programs. Elitecore Technologies has two major certification
programs-Cyberoam Certified Network and Security Professional and Cyberoam
Certified Network and Security Expert, while McAfee, too, has various partner
programs, after completion of which, SPs are meted out with certificates and are
graduated into different partner levels-Associate, Premier and Elite.

Elaborating on the subject of vendor interaction with SPs, RS Thirupathy of
Tatva Networks said, “Typically the vendor works on the marketing plan with a
sampling audience before a new product launch or before a conceptualization.
More visibility for the concept and the product is naturally expected from us.
However, we would benefit from a stronger PR house, sharing white papers with
industry leaders, trade shows, seminars on IT security and more sound branding
programs.”

Ashok Shiroor, CEO of Delhi-based Microz InfoSecurity opined that he would
like to see a stronger channel disciple and better vendor policies, which would
go a long way in sustaining a smooth flow of business. He suggested that vendors
should introduce buyback offers to increase penetration.

Virtualization: The future

In recent times, factors like server consolidation, high energy bills,
faster hardware, ease of use and step back and quick snapshot technology are
making the idea of virtual computing extremely popular in the Indian market.
Virtualization of security, too, is making a foray here with vendors looking at
it renewed interest and as a possible profit churning segment.

Talking about the scope for virtualization of security in the Indian market,
Raghunandan opined, “While it is expected to be the number one growth area for
rest of the year, it will probably takes 18 months more for virtualization space
to mature in India. Once enterprise data centers start deploying critical
applications on the virtualized environment, security becomes a real business
concern and that is when we will see a real growth for the 'virtualization
security space.

Instead of waiting for the market to mature, RSA has already started making a
foray into the cloud computing space. The company has teamed up with VMware to
develop solutions for the Indian market. Desai elaborated, “Most of RSA's
security solutions work seamlessly with VMware. Virtualization has become a
reality in India and today organizations are seeing the need of security for
these environments.”

A survey by Infonetics Research revealed that the worldwide network security
market has seen an eight percent rise in 2008, garnering business worth $5.5
billion. Despite the slowdown in the IT industry, the network security segment
has continued to grow, albeit a little less exponentially. This can be
attributed to various security threats that are lurking in every corner.
“Malware and security threats do not slow down even if the industry does.
Business continuity has been the the key to the success of the network security
industry,” added Shiroor.

Madhura Khasnobis

madhurak@cybermedia.co.in