New ForeScout CounterACT features PCI compliance kit

The payment card industry established the PCI DSS for the protection of cardholder information in response to widely publicized security breaches. Enforced through compulsory IT audits today, the PCI DSS helps to ensure the security and protection of cardholders’ personal data. ForeScout released a PCI compliance kit to compliment the launch of CounterACT version 6.3. The kit contains 21 pre-defined policies and configurable reports that plug-in to CounterACT to address eight of the 12 requirements of the PCI DSS.

Features in CounterACT 6.3 include:

• Baselining for Compliance. A baseline can be established to trim time to compliance. The implementation is in a form of a “track changes” mechanism that provides the ability to create policies that detect endpoint changes during a specific session. Using this feature, users can detect impersonation attempts, maintain endpoint health, and assure server hardening.
• Peripheral Protection. Portable media, such as a USB mass storage device connecting from the endpoint, can now be detected and remediated.
• Localization. Reports and endpoint notifications are now available in local languages.
• Out-of-the-Box Policies. New out-of-the-box policies embody the best practices of global customers and can be deployed within minutes.
• Increased Searchable Indexed Information. Google-like search launched from an Internet Explorer or Firefox browser provides the ability to quickly find connected / connecting network assets.
• Expanded Network / Application Integration. Plug-ins offered for 3Com, Alcatel, NEC and Enterasys switches, Cisco ASA, Microsoft WSUS and Windows CE, plus extended integration with anti-virus/spyware/adware and personal firewall vendors, speeds CounterACT deployment in all environments.
• Expanded Endpoint Interrogation. Provides complete coverage of user-based platforms, including Macintosh and Linux, without requiring any code reside on the endpoint.
• Clientless Auto-Remediation of Microsoft Vulnerabilities and Anti-Virus, Instant Messaging and Peer-to-peer Applications.