ISS Touts New 2-Gig Device

After a delay, Internet Security Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: ISSX) has finally unveiled its eagerly awaited G2000 intrusion-and-prevention appliance (see ISS Launches New Proventia Appliances).

The launch was originally scheduled to take place last quarter, but ISS execs held off for a few months to enable further beta testing and training to support the platform (see Subs, Services Support ISS ).

The G2000 is the Atlanta-based firms new high-end IPS system. The two-rack-unit-high device offers a throughput of 2 Gbit/s, according to ISS, compared to the 1.2 Gbit/s offered by the firm’s next largest model, the G1200.

Charles Kolodgy, research director for security products at analyst firm IDC, says that throughput is becoming increasingly important in resolving what he calls a long-running “cultural battle” between administrators and their security counterparts. For many users, tightening up security systems often goes hand-in-hand with a performance dip. “You need to have higher throughput," he insists, "so that you don’t have people turn off the security because it is not giving you the performance you need.”

And ISS has also filled out the lower end of its product family with the launch of the 400-Mbit/s G400 device. “You need to have products at various speeds and abilities," notes Kolodgy. "It will be important to their overall product line."Product variety is a good attribute, especially given the stiff competition that ISS faces in this space from vendors such as TippingPoint Technologies Inc., Juniper Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: JNPR), Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), and Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC).

But ISS also has to overcome being a little late to the market. “ISS has always been the leader in network intrusion detection software,” says Kolodgy. “They were a little slow to get into the prevention part.”

Nonetheless, the Proventia range has proved successful, and ISS is now looking to boost the devices’ anti-spyware capabilities. A specialized spyware identification technology is built into the G200o and G400, which blocks both known and unknown spyware applications at the network level, according to ISS.

Analysts agree that making spyware a top priority is a shrewd move. “Spyware has become the new big problem for companies,” says Zeus Kerravala, vice president of The Yankee Group. “You can’t talk to anybody without them mentioning spyware.”

”If you get rid of as much spyware as possible at the network level before it gets to individual desktops, it will make the desktops themselves more effective,” says Kolodgy.But the launch of the new IPS devices is just the first of a slew of new hardware from ISS. Earlier this year, the company’s CEO Tom Noonan promised several new products, including 5- and 10-Gigabit IPS devices, as well as a 100-Gig appliance.

— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-Gen Data Center Forum