Next-Gen Nets Need Next-Gen Security

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[b]Next-Gen Nets Need Next-Gen Security[/b]

[size=1]By Preston Gralla [/size]

The news that Cisco Systems' proprietary source code for its Pix firewall software is up for sale certainly isn't welcome by network administrators. A shadowy group describing itself as the Source Code Club (SCC) offered the code for sale on Usenet to any taker for $24,000. While it's not clear that the group actually had its hands on the code, administrators are taking the threat seriously.
If that wasn't bad enough, Cisco also announced that many of its routers and switches are vulnerable to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks.

In fact, security is the biggest obstacle to WLAN adoption, according to Infonetics Research. That shouldn't be a surprise, as WiFi's WEP encryption is notoriously weak. And even the much-stronger WPA encryption scheme was recently cracked.

So what are the network vendors doing about it? Trying to turn the situation to their advantage. At a recent teleconference about its quarterly earnings, Cisco emphasized that it sees security as a growth opportunity, and is throwing significant resources at it, expecting a significant payback. It also recently expanded its family of network security offerings by buying Perfigo, Inc., a developer of packaged network access control solutions, for a cool $74 million.

Recognizing that the future is in the convergence of voice, video, and data, Cisco is trying to strengthen the security of converged networks. Several weeks ago, it enhanced its IP telephony security with the launch of CallManager 4.1, which provides voice media and signaling encryption for new and currently installed 7940G and 7960G IP telephones. The new media encryption features will shield IP voice conversations from eavesdropping, while signal encryption protects against tampering with the signaling packets, such as denial of service attacks.

AT&T, meanwhile, has added worm and virus protection to its Internet Protect service network-based firewall that lets businesses protect themselves from a variety of threats without having to deploy firewalls at each of their locations.

Nokia just released the newest version of its SSL VPN, which gives remote users secure network-level access, including access to business applications, data, and network services. And MCI rolled out IP VPN Broadband, a managed solution that encrypts the traffic between remote locations and corporate headquarters over MCI's DSL offerings.

A host of smaller outfits also recognize that next-generation network services require next-generation network security. One of the more intriguing ideas is the use of Open Source to tackle network security. TippingPoint Technologies has introduced Tomahawk, an open-source testing tool designed to evaluate the capabilities of network-based intrusion prevention systems (IPS). It protects VoIP infrastructure, routers, switches, DNS, and other critical infrastructure from targeted internal and external cyber attacks and traffic anomalies.

Security problems shouldn't stop enterprises from investigating next-generation networking capabilities. But companies should make sure that Cisco and other vendors deliver security along with all the new whiz-bang features.

[url=\"http://www.techweb.com/tech/networking/52601021;jsessionid=T1MHROAB1VB4QQSNDBCCKH0CJUMEKJVN\"][Source][/url]