IBM appliance controls social media risks

IBM announced a new class of network security appliance that delivers a more granular view of a company’s security posture and a simplified security management interface.

This appliance helps clients address attacks targeting their organization, providing visibility into exactly what applications are being used on the network, where users are going on the Web, with the ability to monitor and control this activity.

Many enterprises today, armed with legacy tools to protect themselves, are often not prepared to face the continuously evolving threat landscape. IBM Security Network Protection XGS 5000 builds on the proven, core security features found in IBM Security Network Intrusion Prevention System, including protection for “zero-day” exploits, by adding new levels of visibility and control over the network, applications, data and users to improve security by preventing misuse and identifying previously undetectable threats.

IBM’s Network Security Protection incorporates global threat intelligence from X-Force, including the world’s largest Web filter database of over 15 billion URLs – capable of monitoring and categorizing millions of Web servers and applications each day to provide superior protection against the changing threat landscape.

Once organizations are aware of the nature of activity on their network, the new application control features enable clients to have granular control over what is happening on their network; this means granular user and group-level control over which applications and Websites are permitted, and how they are used down to individual actions or activities within these applications and sites.

This visibility is greatly increased via integration with IBM’s Advanced Threat Protection Platform, which utilizes anomaly detection and event correlation capabilities to better address more complex attacks such as Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs). IBM Security customers can also choose tightly integrated solutions that use optimized security products and Security Intelligence tools, including analytics.

In addition, IBM’s Managed Security Services can provide constant monitoring and management of a customer’s IT environment to augment or replace in-house expertise.