Websense Drops Its Guard Dogs In Your Yard
Websense Drops Its Guard Dogs In Your Yard
February 14, 2006: Websense has released its new security offering Web Protection Services, enabling what it calls a “hackers-eye-view” of your organisation’s web server.
With a view to prevent attacks and plug vulnerabilities, the company has developed a three-pronged protection method in the form of a suite of services called ThreatWatcher, SiteWatcher and BrandWatcher. It claims these new services prevent malicious attacks on web servers before they happen by scanning for vulnerabilities and threats and reporting on detected flaws such as missing patches or open ports.
The first of the trio, ThreatWatcher, behaves like a hacker and tests your outer defences performing vulnerability scans. If a site is found to have a weak point against a malicious attack, an automatic report is generated and the customer alerted.
The second is SiteWatcher. Keeping up with modern hacking techniques is a major operation. Especially considering that they have advanced to a point where mobile malicious code (MMC) can be dropped on vulnerable websites to infect visitor’s PCs. SiteWatcher acts like a guard dog, it monitors a website and pipes up when it has been infected with MMC, providing a chance to contain the problem before it effects visitors.
Lastly is its anti-phishing service BrandWatcher. Websense say that when websites or brands have been targeted in phishing or malicious keylogging attacks, the offensive can arrive in the form of email or fraudulent websites that imitate an organisation’s brand. To combat this, it claims BrandWatcher “provides organisations with security intelligence, including attack details, and other security-related information.”
“Increasingly the web is being used as an attack point to gain access to confidential information, host malicious code, and as a conduit into other systems within the corporate infrastructure,” says Dan Hubbard, senior director of security and technology research for Websense. “Without specific knowledge as to how and why that server could be compromised, it can be very difficult to remediate the vulnerability.”
The new service does not in itself offer anything other than analysis, however, prevention is better than the cure and early warning of a potential vulnerability is much better than recoiling from damage and potential embarrassment caused by a malicious attack.
Websense is offering a free 30 day evaluation of the service suite on its website.
Comment on this story
Related Article: