The Pipeline

Double-duty monitoring

Would your network administrator look good in a security guard uniform? You won't have to find out if you purchase the Security Alarm Surveillance Monitor (SASmon) from LTI DataComm, which the company recently made available to the federal defense and civilian communities.

SASmon does double duty as an information technology system surveillance tool and a physical monitoring device. By combining those functions into one unit, SASmon meets monitoring requirements for government networks and facilities in one fell swoop.

Administrators can control the device remotely and monitor facilities and IT systems over any IP network. SASmon delivers status reports via a Web browser, e-mail or Simple Network Management Protocol.

SASmon's remote capabilities include sensory analysis, suspicious-event monitoring and notifications about intrusions.

On the physical side, the device alerts users to power outages, door openings, and changes in temperature and humidity.

SASmon offers host communications through wired Ethernet or a wireless interface. Other features include encrypted Web-based configuration, third-party camera support, and serial, dial-up and/or TCP/IP network operation.

The price to monitor one remote site with eight network and/or physical inputs is $1,866 on the General Services Administration schedules.

It's all about control

Maybe two-for-one is becoming a trend. Sygate has also launched a product that pulls double duty. Sygate Enterprise Protection (SEP) 5.0., company officials say, is the first single-agent solution to integrate a host intrusion prevention system and network access control and manage them from a single console.

SEP 5.0 offers multilayered technology to protect against network exploits, and it can deploy intrusion prevention and network access control to 700,000 users per server and 2.5 million agents per company. Those large numbers help accommodate the growing number of mobile devices and other embedded systems connected to networks.

Sygate's existing network access control protection includes every type of network access — including virtual private networks, wireless, routers and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. It also covers all endpoint devices, including notebook and desktop computers, servers, and guest systems.

To that, Sygate's host intrusion prevention adds various types of blocking at the device, operating system, application and network layers.

At the device layer, the product can block the transfer of data to removable media including USB keys, CD/DVD burners, hard drives and more. It can also specify authorized devices for data transfer, such as a mouse or keyboard, and control users' ability to read or write data on specific devices. What's more, it can adapt that policy based on the current network environment.

At the operating system layer, SEP 5.0 blocks exploits that target known vulnerabilities; restricts the operating system to specific, authorized operations; and blocks unknown exploits based on templates of secure operating system behavior.

Moving up to the application layer, SEP 5.0 can block exploits of known vulnerabilities in e-mail systems, Web browsers, word-processing software and more. Further, it can make sure only authorized programs and Dynamic Link Library files are allowed to execute, and it can block unknown exploits of applications such as Web servers.

Finally, at the network layer, the product can block known network-based worm and Web server attacks, ensure that only authorized network traffic is transmitted and block unusual network behavior such as malformed packets designed to cause denial-of-service attacks.

Pricing for 1,000 seats starts at $65 per seat for desktop and notebook computers, and $115 per seat for servers. Discounts apply based on volume and desired functions.

Two make a team

Hewlett-Packard and Altiris have jointly developed two new software packages as part of HP's Client Management Solutions. The HP Client Foundation Suite and the HP Client Premium Suite join the company's line of OpenView Radia-based configuration management solutions.

According to HP, the new suites are a better value, are easier to install and provide tighter integration with HP clients than existing products.

The HP Client Foundation Suite is designed for organizations that require essential client management functions including inventory, operating system and application deployment, data recovery and connectivity to HP server management tools.

The suite includes HP Client Manager 6.1, HP Systems Insight Manager Connector, Altiris Inventory Solution, Altiris Deployment Solution and Altiris Local Recovery Pro.

The HP Client Premium Suite includes all of the Client Foundation Suite functions plus a handful of applications that add hardware and software life cycle management capabilities.

The HP Client Foundation Suite costs $63, and the HP Client Premium Suite costs $92. Customers can download the HP Client Manager and Local Recovery software solutions for free.