Survey Shows IT 'Out of Shape ...

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November 08, 2004 (Computerworld) -- ... when it comes to major technology implementations," warns John Norcross, vice president of technology at Celerant Consulting Inc. in Lexington, Mass. The U.S. branch of Novell Inc.'s U.K.-based consultancy teamed with newsweekly The Economist to poll
executives at 290 mostly midsize U.S. and Canadian companies on their ability to handle big IT projects. Norcross says the survey results, which will be released this week, revealed that less than half of the respondents have attempted a major technology rollout during the past three years. He worries that the hiatus, combined with the "decimation" of IT departments through cutbacks and outsourcing, will hobble any IT-dependent "transformational change" initiatives demanded by top management as the economy improves. "I don't know whether it's a crisis, but it's approaching one," he contends. Although consultancies might benefit from the situation, Norcross says that without IT expertise inside companies, "all you've got is a bunch of generic consultants with generic knowledge producing a generic solution."
Wireless defenses reinforced with ...
... the release this month of rival offerings AirDefense 6.0 and PredatorWatch Auditor 128. Anil Khatod, CEO of AirDefense Inc. in Alpharetta, Ga., claims that the 6.0 upgrade of the software for the company's wireless network security appliances "can defend wireless devices and/or the wired devices they're connected to." The release adds client-side code that prevents online sessions from being hijacked to bogus Web sites when end users connect their laptops to public hot spots. Users are also now protected from intruders sneaking onto their machines via Bluetooth links. In addition, AirDefense 6.0 features improved network intrusion-detection and automated rogue management features, Khatod says. Pricing starts at $6,995.

John Norcross, vice president of technology at Celerant Consulting Inc.

According to Gary Miliefsky, CEO of PredatorWatch Inc. in North Chelmsford, Mass., as soon as a PredatorWatch Auditor 128 appliance is connected to a wireless LAN, it builds a database on up to 256 IP-based systems and conducts common vulnerability exposure (CVE) tests that reveal "anything that can be exploited." About the size of a paperback, the Auditor 128 provides information such as recommendations of patches needed for Windows-based systems. The appliance can also block unauthorized network access. It lists for $1,295 plus a monthly subscription fee of $59 for CVE updates.
Secure Web services need more ...
... than well-intended standards, says Joelle Gropper Kaufman, vice president of marketing at Reactivity Inc. in Belmont, Calif. Gropper Kaufman says that standards such as WS-Security "are not implemented identically by vendors." Reactivity Chief Technology Officer John Lilly adds that the existing standards aren't comprehensive. For example, he claims that they don't protect Web services applications against XML denial-of-service attacks. Reactivity says its Gateway 2400 security appliances provide protection from XML DoS attacks and enforce policies for applications using Web services. The devices also offload encryption and decryption of Web services messages from corporate networks.

	PredatorWatch Auditor 128

This week, Reactivity will release XOS 4.1, a software upgrade that supports Gigabit Ethernet speeds and improves performance on processing SOAP message headers. Pricing starts at $65,000, but a developer version costs $5,000.
Don't fret about iPods and MP3 players ...
... as vehicles for stealing your company's data, advises Brian Cincera, vice president of security solutions at Greenwich Technology Partners Inc. in New York. Cincera disagrees with sentiments previously expressed here about such dangers . "Data leaving in the hands of employees is always an issue," he says. "But I don't think iPods, MP3 players and Bluetooth devices will raise the stakes."

Brian Cincera, vice president of security solutions at Greenwich Technology Partners Inc.

USB memory devices like Sony Corp.'s Memory Stick pose a bigger threat, Cincera says, describing them as "the floppy disk of our generation." But he argues that obsessing about the legions of tiny digital devices hitchhiking in and out of your company won't lead to a more secure environment. "The bigger issue is how companies let people get access to data," he says. "We're haphazard about it." Cincera suggests that a good way to start better managing data security is to let "the information owner control the access and the risk." Trying to centrally control access beyond simple log-on processes is doomed because of the complexity involved, he says. Finer controls, such as policies on copying and sending information, need to rest with business units, in his view. That makes good business sense and takes the monkey off IT's back.

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