Making Secure Sockets Layer More SecureMaking Secure Sockets Layer More Secure

Radware Ltd. has unveiled an enhanced version of its DefensePro switch designed to inspect, analyze, and, when necessary, clean up encrypted communication before it enters companies' networks.

DefensePro 2.4 is designed to stop hackers from using a Secure Sockets Layer-encrypted communications "tunnel" to gain access to a network and infect it with malicious software. It aims to solve a weakness in the SSL Internet security protocol, which doesn't provide the ability to know the content of encrypted information entering a network. That's important because many E-mail systems, VPNs, and Web sites use SSL. Because SSL doesn't authenticate the sender, companies don't know who's trying to access their networks.

DefensePro provides the ability to inspect SSL-encrypted sessions, a wizard for quick and simple installation, and statistics reporting. Security administrators can see the country of origin for traffic, drill down for more details, and produce user-defined reports. DefensePro 2.4 is priced at $25,000.

For DefensePro to work, customers must first name the switch as a proxy and give it permission to receive, read, and clean encrypted data. Says IDC analyst Charles Kology, "Companies need to make sure the SSL link isn't going to infect the network. Too many hackers are creating secure tunnels as attack vectors."