Secure Passage provides security analysis and compliance solutions. They recently announced FireMon, an automated security analysis and compliance solution for firewalls, routers and switches. Its fully automated functionality delivers substantial ROI by reducing the number of resources needed to perform analysis and audit processes.

 

According to officials, FireMon supports more than 25,000 Cisco, Juniper, Check Point and McAfee (News - Alert) security devices for over 200 companies worldwide.

 

TMCnet recently caught up with Jody Brazil, Secure Passage founder, president and CTO, to discuss the new trends in firewall deployment. Our exchange follows:

TMCnet: What are the key challenges, which organizations face, in deploying firewall?

 

Jody Brazil: Firewalls are the first line of defense and access. They do a great job of responding to administrators’ commands to permit and deny traffic but they cannot audit themselves, point out unused rules, security gaps, configuration changes or compliance violations. Before deploying a firewall, whether it is software, hardware or virtual, IT administrators should check to see if the device in question is supported by a robust, proven policy analysis solution that can automatically provide customized audit reports, real-time monitoring and configuration change alerts, and point out where unused rules exist.

 

               

JB: There are many schools of thought on this topic. Different vendors will say that many different types of holes exist in many different places. When it comes to firewalls, Gartner (News - Alert) Group says that 99 percent of all related breaches stem from mis-configurations. 

 

 

JB: A number of differentiators set FireMon apart from competitors. Key values that FireMon brings to the table include proven ROI, scalability and customization.

 

In terms of ROI, customers using FireMon have reduced the amount of time required to do a compliance audit from days to minutes and reduced the number of administrators required to complete the task from three to one.

 

From a scalability standpoint, only FireMon’s flexible architecture and distributed data collector design allows enterprises to keep pace with increasing numbers of network security devices needed to manage networks. Its smart management interface makes FireMon an easy to use tool for enterprises of all sizes.

 

Enterprise environments are like fingerprints, no two are alike. Unique environments demand customization that only FireMon delivers. FireMon’s published API enables customers to create audit, configuration change, unused rule, and custom compliance reports based on their own unique criteria and needs. Like FireMon, other solutions can provide standard canned reports, unlike FireMon, none can provide the vital customization capabilities that enterprises demand.

 

 

JB: FireMon is the industry’s first and leading security analysis and compliance solution for firewalls, routers and switches. With FireMon, IT security teams can save time and money by automating configuration analysis for network security devices, compliance auditing, monitoring, and rule change alert processes. Additionally, customers using FireMon are able to optimize rule usage for maximum security and device performance.

 

FireMon’s flexible deployment options support either a distributed architecture for unlimited scalability for large organizations or unified models. FireMon can be deployed on proprietary platforms or on one of three SPX appliances designed to meet the needs of different size organizations.

 

 

JB: FireMon’s latest release, version 4.2 added significant policy analysis capabilities.  Key functionality added in the most recent release includes:

 

 

JB: Over 200 enterprises-class organizations have deployed FireMon to automate analysis of firewall, router and switch policy configurations and changes on over 25,000 devices. Our customers include seven of the 15 largest U.S. bank holding companies and three of the four largest cellular communications companies in the United States.  Secure Passage’s global customers come from virtually every vertical industry where enterprises have deployed five or more firewalls. Secure Passage has established significant dominance among Financial Services, Telecommunications, Healthcare and Government organizations.

 

 

JB: Secure Passage values all of its customers and partners and we are dedicated to providing them with absolute confidence in their network security and compliance. Like all security vendors, our customers often ask that we don’t divulge their names as they want to keep their security operations as low-profile as possible. At this point, we can tell you that healthcare provider Integris Health has agreed to allow us to use their name publicly.

 

 

JB: Security and compliance can’t be overlooked. Increasing security threats and added regulatory demands will continue to drive the security market in the short and long term. Major security incidents like the TJX breach, the current economic situation, popular sentiment calling for more corporate oversight, and common sense business practices are all going to continue to accelerate demand for technologies that improve security, enable compliance and reduce the cost of both. Technologies that can prove ROI, improve security and compliance and reduce costs have a great shot at succeeding in any economic environment. 

 

 

JB: In the near future, we will unveil a new, better and more cost-effective way to handle security, analysis, reporting and compliance for the network that will be nothing short of a paradigm shift. Soon, we will provide a better way to ensure compliance with major regulations like the PCI DSS, increased integration with leading management platforms, functionality that will improve workflow, and visibility into the status and health of the entire network.