Cisco advances its integrated security strategy

It also confirmed its commitment to promoting security issues in the region by continuing its support of MEITSEC and the Etisalat Academy, which will take place in Dubai between March 22 - 27.

"Information security is rapidly becoming a board-level challenge as industry in the region adopts increasingly sophisticated Internet business applications," said Roger Levenhagen, Marketing Manager for Cisco Systems Middle East and North Africa. "Managers are learning that every part of their business is a potential point of attack, which should be protected by suitably robust defenses. We are working with Etisalat and other organizations to launch a wide reaching program aimed at educating local businesses on the importance of security. Through our efforts we hope to encourage them to make information security a priority and to implement policies and technologies that will enable their business to grow both securely and profitably."

Cisco's new platform and software enhancements, which are available in the Middle East from today, underscore Cisco's integrated security strategy to tightly link network and security services for dynamic protection of business-critical applications and services.

Advancements in Intrusion Protection
Customers, increasingly challenged by false alarms, recognise the value of intrusion protection technology but have been reticent to adopt it broadly for fear of spending the majority of their time discerning false alarms from real attacks to their networks.

To address this challenge, Cisco® is introducing Cisco IDS Software Version 4.0, new Cisco Threat Response (CTR) technology, the Cisco IDS 4250-XL Sensor and Cisco Catalyst® 6500 Series Intrusion Detection System (IDSM-2) Services Module, and improved intrusion protection management.

Extensions to Market-Leading Cisco PIX Firewall Family
New Cisco PIX® Firewall software and hardware-based VPN acceleration capabilities extend Cisco's market leadership in offering high-performance, integrated security services for converged data, voice, and video environments. New extensions include the Cisco PIX Firewall Software Version 6.3, VPN Acceleration Card+ (VAC+), and PIX Device Manager Version 3.0 (PDM).

"This announcement shows Cisco's commitment to delivering on their integrated security strategy," said Jeff Wilson, Executive Director of Infonetics Research Inc. "The combination of Cisco's security appliances with network-wide embedded security services, including intrusion protection and firewall technologies, offers customers advanced protection from threats to business-critical applications and services."