Protect Your Information with Intrusion Detection (Power)
On October 21, 1998, Internet Security Systems, in cooperation with other leading manufacturers, created the Adaptive Network Security Alliance (ANSA). This alliance is an initiative including a wide range of manufacturers, and is aimed at the development of an adaptive technology of network security management intended to significantly strengthen corporate security. The ANSA partners will be able to use the Adaptive Network Security (ANS) modules and SDK supplied by ISS, and integrate them with their products. The original ANS modules support a wide range of functional capabilities, including adaptive security for firewalls, VPN tools, antiviral software, intrusion detection systems, PKI, routers, switches, network and system monitoring, etc.
ANSA will provide modules intended for operation in the following key areas:
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Active Response. Thanks to ANSA, firewalls, routers, switches, and other devices will be provided with the capability of automatic self-configuration. This functionality will enable the network devices listed above to automatically reconfigure themselves to thwart attacks in real-time mode and prevent the intruder from repeating attempts to penetrate the network.
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Lock Down. An incorrect configuration can make any technology vulnerable to an attack or other malicious activity. ISS will work in cooperation with the ANSA partners in order to develop user templates aimed at significantly improving the reliability of the security configuration of network devices. This will allow customers to be sure that products purchased from ANSA partners will not be vulnerable to an intruder's attack and will function as intended by developers.
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Decision Support. Planning and decision-making processes in the field of information security require the analyst to process a vast amount of data from all security tools and network devices. ANSA will provide a mechanism for making quick and well-grounded decisions concerning the securing of large corporate networks by means of collecting, merging, and analyzing data received from various security tools and network devices developed by ANSA partners. The collected information will be transmitted to management consoles in order to be able to take immediate counteraction.
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Adaptive Security Network Management. ANSA will integrate Adaptive Network Security management with various network management platforms, such as HP OpenView. This integration will ensure the strengthening of security, and at the same time will simplify the distribution of the security policy over the whole organization.
Currently, more than 70 leading manufacturers working in the field of information technologies participate in ANSA. This list includes the following companies: 3Com Corporation, Check Point Software, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel Networks, Intrusion.com (formerly ODS Networks), Tivoli Systems Inc., VeriSign Inc., and V-ONE Corporation.
Unfortunately, things did not get much further than words. The alliance never implemented an actual project, and not long after its foundation, the alliance stopped its work altogether.