Cisco pulls its security together
597580
Promises more collaboration - and about time too... Cisco claims that it is finally getting its act together on security. The company has unveiled a new strategy, called Threat Control and Containment, or TCC, which it said would get its assorted security products working together more effectively.â¦
680401
Cisco systems Inc. has teamed up with Cognio Inc. on a system designed to ferret out the source of radio frequency noise that can interfere with WiFi networks.
704113
Cisco Systems used the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco to trumpet its transformation from "packet pusher" to "infrastructure" company, unveiling a string of product updates that unify its diverse security portfolio on Monday.
34766
(InfoWorld) - Cisco Systems used the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco to trumpet its transformation from "packet pusher" to "infrastructure" company, unveiling a string of product updates that unify its diverse security portfolio on Monday. However, the company still has work to do to make that transformation complete and will need to ramp up its outreach to third-party vendors to make initiatives like its SONA (Service Oriented Networking Architecture) and Network Admission Control a reality, analysts and customers say. Cisco announced releases to its ASA (Adaptive Security Appliance) product, IPS, CSA (Cisco Security Agent), CSM (Cisco Security Manager), and MARS (Mitigation Analysis and Response System) products. The enhancements will give enterprises better protection against a new generation of sophisticated and targeted attacks and an evolving "human network" of mobile and Web based technologies, Jeff Platon, Cisco's vice president of security marketing told a room full of reporters and analysts on Monday. "When you think about our role and how it's evolved, we've moved from being a packet pusher to an infrastructure company," Platon said. "And if you look at the trends, Cisco's not going to be a network vendor. Whether its voice or video in the consumer space, those requirements are going to change what Cisco becomes to the marketplace." But key elements of the company's transformation are very much works in progress that will require Cisco to forge close ties with other vendors before they bear fruit. SONA, an effort to create a service-oriented architectural framework that unifies network-based services like security, mobility, and location on virtualized platforms, will require close cooperation with third-party vendors that may be Cisco competitors in some areas, said Richard Palmer, senior vice president of Cisco's Security Technology Unit. "If we allow third-party applications to operate on our platforms like ASA and ISR, it will make for a tighter set of partners and more longevity," Palmer said. Currently, Cisco has a number of teams across the company developing SONA components for functions like authentication and control plane and data plane integration for third-party products to work on platforms like Cisco' ASA, Palmer said.Â  To promote SONA, Cisco will strike more deals like the joint marketing initiative with SAP on governance, risk, and compliance solutions, which it announced in September. Similarly, the company will need to work closely with firms like Microsoft and other third-party vendors on issues like security. Cisco and Microsoft have been hammering out an integration of their two competing NAC frameworks for more than two years, largely at the urging of enterprise customers. Palmer allowed that many enterprise customers may prefer to use features built into Windows Vista in lieu of Cisco's own CSA client software. "Clearly, what we do is driven by customer choice. Customers are saying, 'Look, we're committed to Vista, and we want you to work more closely," he said. However, Palmer said that some customers may still prefer the CSA client for endpoint security. But for Cisco's enterprise customers, choice and integration with other vendors remains a pressing issue. Patricia M. Lawicki, vice president and CIO at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), a Cisco customer since 1987, said that the company's technology plays a key part in helping PG&E restructure its IT operations after the California electricity crisis of 2000 and 2001 forced the company into bankruptcy. Cisco's technology is helping PG&E with a major business transformation, including the phasing out of mainframe and first-generation client-server applications, a major deployment of technology from SAP, and overhauls of supply chain and customer service systems. While PG&E is using the company's NAC appliance, Cisco's full NAC solution, which requires wholesale upgrades to its networking infrastructure, remains too expensive for PG&E to adopt, especially with the wealth of legacy Cisco hardware that would need to be replaced, Lawicki said. A committed Cisco customer, PG&E still wants to be able to choose best-of-breed solutions -- particularly in areas like security -- and is pushing Cisco and its other suppliers to make that possible, she said.
469328
Cisco Systems is shaking up its network management with the release of two new switches. Aimed at mid-sized enterprises, the switches acknowledge that there are large numbers of people who are not confident
545121
SAN JOSE, Calif. _ Just days after Cisco System
75923
Cisco this week will release products it says will help small companies deal with the complexities of LAN switch security, convergence and network management.
328112
The ground rules of the tests of Cisco and Avaya systems.
395175
Two new switches from Cisco demonstrate a sweeping change in the company&#39;s assumptions about the technical knowledge of network managers.
419663
Cisco and Microsoft have gotten the word: IT managers are tired of constantly plugging security holes in their networks.
668500
Their biggest clients hit hard by viruses, worms and other attacks, Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. said Monday that they plan to work together to help their corporate customers fight back.
152595
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK - Cisco Systems is adding to its arsenal of security devices by acquiring Protego Networks in a deal worth $65 million in cash.
250799
As servers and storage start to merge into unified, virtualized systems, Cisco wants to do the same thing with the networks that connect them.
261731
Cisco Systems and Wells Fargo found themselves this week again responding to security breaches nearly identical to ones the two companies faced only months earlier.
638587
Cisco has discovered a security flaw in its Cisco Security Agent software (CSA. This could be exploited by attackers to circumvent the security provided by the host-based intrusion prevention product.
76513
Cisco plans to introduce a range of new, better-integrated security products at the RSA Conference this week.
207814
RSA and Cisco are jointly developing technology to embed security technology in multiple storage media, though some users still prefer to use security appliances.