Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

  1. Home
  2. Networking
  3. Emc-acquires-netwitness-investigate-network-security-breaches
  4. Page
  5. EMC Acquires NetWitness To Investigate Network Security Breaches: Page 2 of 2
Networking

EMC Acquires NetWitness To Investigate Network Security Breaches: Page 2 of 2

EMC on Monday announced the acquisition of NetWitness, a company whose technology monitors computer networks to detect and re-mediate security threats while also automating the process of investigating security incidents. NetWitness will operate as part of EMC's security business, RSA. Coincidentally, the acquisition closed on April 1, the same day RSA disclosed that its own systems were the target of a phishing attack. RSA categorized the event as an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT).
April 06, 2011

While RSA does not believe the breach will result in customers' SecureID protection being subverted, it could weaken SecureID as part of a broader attack. "We do not believe that either customer or employee personally identifiable information was compromised as a result of this incident," Coviello added.

While lauding RSA for its disclosure and for contacting customers to help, EMA's Crawford was critical of RSA for overusing the term "Advanced Persistent Threat" to describe a phishing attack that a company of that stature should know how to prevent. "Such vague terms as 'advanced' and 'persistent' make it possible for us to absolve ourselves for any attacker's not-so-sophisticated successes," he wrote in another Monday blog post about the breach.

NetWitness will become a core element of RSA's Advanced Security Management Solutions by providing real-time visibility into network activity and aiding incident investigations, EMC said. At the RSA Conference 2011 in San Francisco in February, an industry-wide convention hosted by RSA, NetWitness introduced Spectrum, a product that does automated malware analysis. NetWitness is a privately-held company and EMC did not disclose what it paid for the Virginia-based firm.

See more on this topic by subscribing to Network Computing Pro Reports Research: WAN Security (subscription required).

Tags:

News
Networking