Spot And Block Attacks As They HappenSpot And Block Attacks As They Happen

NetScreen Technologies Inc. is paying $40.3 million to add another tool to its multipurpose security boxes. The vendor is buying OneSecure Inc. with a plan to integrate its Intrusion Detection and Prevention System into NetScreen appliances by June.

NetScreen's security appliances already include firewall, denial-of-service attack prevention, IPSec virtual private networking, and traffic-management capabilities. The company is betting that its customers will look for more security features in one appliance to make network-security management easier. The move will help NetScreen grab a piece of the growing intrusion-detection market, which IDC analysts predict will reach $1 billion by 2005.

OneSecure's offering addresses a major complaint: that intrusion-detection systems too often issue "false positives," alerting administrators to potential breaches when no one is actually breaking into the network. Some OneSecure customers say the company's intrusion-detection system has virtually eliminated this problem because it spots intrusions more accurately (see "Smarter, Sneakier Systems Spot Intruders," Feb. 11, p. 28). The system can actively block incoming attacks as it spots them.

OneSecure co-founder Nir Zuk is among the security industry's most influential technologists. Before OneSecure, Zuk was principal engineer at Check Point Software Technologies Inc., where he led the development of Check Point Firewall-1 and VPN-1 product lines. He'll join NetScreen in the newly created position of chief technology officer.