Secure Computing unveils Secure Web 2.0 Anti-Threat (S.W.A.T.) initiative

October 23, 2007; 05:21 AM
October 23, 2007 -/MySolutionInfo/- Secure Computing Corporation (Nasdaq: SCUR), the leading enterprise gateway security provider, has unveiled the company’s new “SWAT” Initiative for protecting organizations from Web 2.0-related threats carried in Web and messaging protocols. The “Secure Web 2.0 Anti-Threat” initiative is an intensive effort to provide corporations with informative research, tools, solutions and best practices vital for companies evaluating-or re-evaluating-their approach to Web and messaging security.

At its core, the initiative is aimed at identifying and highlighting the essential components required to provide the best possible protection for businesses operating in a Web 2.0 environment and beyond.

Based on in-depth analysis of typical network policies and security architectures, a commissioned study from Forrester Consulting focused on determining how companies are responding to employee Web and messaging use, and global threat data from TrustedSource.org, Secure Computing has identified the core security components and architecture necessary to effectively combat Web 2.0 threats. The company’s objective is to leverage its security expertise and ongoing research to help businesses implement a proactive security architecture that can protect their environments as existing Web and messaging threats increase and new threats arise.

“Today’s Web environment provides a vastly improved user experience and access to information due to the rapid adoption of Web 2.0 technologies like AJAX, XML and RDF,” said Sami Mulla Director of, Middle East & Africa, Secure Computing. “However, as in other technological innovations before it, Web 2.0 technologies have also led to new vulnerabilities and new techniques for compromising corporate networks and data. Unfortunately, our research bears out that company’s simply aren’t doing enough today. Most organizations are not adequately protected; their users are insufficiently trained on using these technologies; and they are spending large sums of money recovering from attacks.”

“Our initiative aims to provide information and resources that help organizations in the Middle East to understand the evolving threat environment and take steps to proactively protect themselves.” he added.

Through research, analysis, and years of experience as the leader in security for the Internet gateway, Secure Computing has identified the key requirements for addressing enterprise Web security. Some of these include, proactive real-time reputation-based Web and messaging filtering for all domains--even those not yet categorized; bi-directional filtering and application control at the gateway for all Web traffic including Web protocols from HTTP, to IM, including encrypted traffic; data leakage protection on all key Web and messaging protocols; security aware proxies and caches; design for layering of defenses with minimal number of proven and secured devices; and robust management and audit reporting tools for all Web and messaging protocols, services and solutions including filtering, malware and caching.

The SWAT initiative is driving Secure Computing’s next-generation Web and messaging gateway appliance development. The recently announced Webwasher® Web gateway security solution includes key features such as proactive intent-based anti-malware protection that has been repeatedly rated number one in numerous tests by independent lab AV-Test.org; reputation-based filtering using Secure Computing’s unique TrustedSource™ technology; and high-performance secure caching that ensures that the appliance provides consistently high throughput of Web traffic without compromising its ability to stop zero-day malware threats.

In an independent test conducted by AV Test Labs (www.av-test.org), Secure Computing’s Webwasher® anti-malware engine achieved 99.86 percent detection success, surpassing all of the leading vendors and scoring higher than 27 other companies. Secure Computing’s reputation-based Web gateway solution, Webwasher, correctly identified the majority of 874,822 threat samples used in the study. The research conducted mirrored the true magnitude of malware threats and illustrated the varying degrees of competitive product effectiveness in detecting these threats.

As part of its commitment to continue to evolve its Web and messaging products to better thwart Web 2.0 attacks and beyond, Secure Computing is also providing its customers and partners with a roadmap that includes support for additional protocols, unified policy and management across multiple remote appliances and integration with external systems in the enterprise.

The SWAT Web site can be found at www.securecomputing.com/swat. In addition to access to the Forrester Research and Secure Computing’s research, the site features a directory of other resources and expert opinions and current news on topics of interest.