NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: STEVE TAYLOR AND JOANIE WEXLER ON WIDE AREA NETWORKING 11/30/04 Today's focus: Who's the right partner for endpoint security?
Dear [EMAIL PROTECTED], In this issue: * Endpoint compliance: A discipline up for grabs * Links related to Wide Area Networking * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored By BMC Software Linking IT Priorities to Business Objectives, an IDC whitepaper. Get insights from IDC on aligning business goals and IT priorities. IDC offers practical, actionable information on how Business Service Management can help you reduce operating costs, improve service levels, respond faster to business needs and protect delivery of business-critical. Click here to download this whitepaper now. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=88784 _______________________________________________________________ COMPREHENSIVE ENTERPRISE STORAGE INFORMATION Go to NW Fusion's Research Center for detailed information on enterprise storage. Find the latest breaking news, case studies, white papers, commentary, reviews and more. Topics on how ILM impacts your storage strategy, how to migrate to a new tape drive, how to link SAN islands and more are all found in the Research Center. Click here: http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=89289 _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: Who's the right partner for endpoint security? By Steve Taylor and Joanie Wexler It's a positive that enterprises now have many choices for protecting their corporate networks from malware and intruders. However, the dizzying array of alternatives could eventually confound enterprises. Who is the appropriate vendor partner for keeping infections and intruders off your network? Among the players: Firewall vendors, routing companies, remote-access network-service aggregators, mobile management software providers, and, as of last week, even wireless LAN switching companies. One question is how many special clients will enterprises be willing to run on user devices? For example, the remote-access network-service aggregators (such as Fiberlink, GoRemote and iPass) require special client software with a common interface for connectivity. The software from these players, in addition to providing remote-access connectivity over an array of connection types and unified billing, also provides optional endpoint policy checks and enforcement. Meanwhile, the Cisco Network Admission Control (NAC) initiative involves leaders in the anti-virus client software space. In this scenario, Cisco WAN access routers check for infections and software version compliance before granting admission to remote devices attempting to access the corporate network. Firewall maker Check Point offers a similar capability via client software it acquired when it bought Zone Labs earlier this year. In case a remote laptop should come back to the office and plug right into the LAN, LAN-side vendors are also getting into the act. WLAN mobile management company Wavelink now teams with Funk Software to put a Funk Odyssey client on mobile user laptops for endpoint policy control. Similarly, WLAN switch vendor Aruba Wireless last week said it has built a wireless/wired security overlay that involves a policy engine in the data center checking LAN-connected mobile devices (whether connected wirelessly or directly via an Ethernet port) for infections and software compliance. The solution is said to eliminate needing expensive firewalls in every wiring closet to do the job. Meanwhile, data center firewall makers such as Fortinet and iPolicy, which also scan for malware and check for software compliance, support LAN connections and can screen LAN traffic before granting access. Ultimately, it's our belief that that multifunction intrusion-fighting devices generically known as firewalls will remain in the data center, and a version of them will also get integrated into wiring closet switches. Our advice? Check with a security consultant, at least initially, to sort out the various options so that you don't find yourself with too much overlap and ultra-heavy clients. RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS Test: Endpoint security products aid in client defense Network World, 09/20/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/2004/0920rev.html Viruses are most costly security problem Network World Wide Area Networking Newsletter, 10/05/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/frame/2004/1004wan1.html Security overlay architecture holds promise Network World Wide Area Networking Newsletter, 05/06/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/frame/2004/0503wan2.html iPolicy blocks worms, viruses across 802.11nets Network World Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter, 09/06/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/nlwan862 Cisco CTO: We won't be commoditized Network World, 11/29/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/112904giancarlo.html _______________________________________________________________ To contact: Steve Taylor and Joanie Wexler Steve Taylor is President of Distributed Networking Associates and Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Webtorials.Com. For more detailed information on most of the topics discussed in this newsletter, connect to Webtorials.Com <http://www.webtorials.com/>, the first Web site dedicated exclusively to market studies and technology tutorials in the Broadband Packet areas of Frame Relay, ATM, and IP. He can be reached at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in California's Silicon Valley who has spent most of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future article topics. Reach her at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored By BMC Software Linking IT Priorities to Business Objectives, an IDC whitepaper. Get insights from IDC on aligning business goals and IT priorities. IDC offers practical, actionable information on how Business Service Management can help you reduce operating costs, improve service levels, respond faster to business needs and protect delivery of business-critical. Click here to download this whitepaper now. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=88783 _______________________________________________________________ ARCHIVE LINKS Archive of the WAN newsletter: http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/frame/index.html _______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE DOWNLOAD INDUSTRY WHITE PAPERS NOW NW Fusion's White Paper Library is your source for the latest industry white papers. Recent additions to the library include white papers on securing remote access, VOIP and productivity, domain name system best practices, WLAN security, IT documentation and much more. 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