NetIQ Updates Cross-Platform Security Management Products

Published: November 14, 2006

by Alex Woodie

NetIQ last week announced new releases of its cross-platform security tools, including Security Manager and Secure Configuration Manager, which formerly was called Vulnerability Manager. NetIQ, which was just acquired by Attachmate, says the new releases bring together valuable pieces of security information and management of the products, thereby helping users to stay on top of their security infrastructure with less effort.

Security Manager (SM) is a Windows-based intrusion detection system (IDS) that also functions as a centralized console for managing security and correlating, analyzing, and reporting on security events occurring across various platforms and applications, including iSeries, Windows, Unix, Linux, and NetWare. Meanwhile, Secure Configuration Manager (SCM) helps users by identifying the latest system vulnerabilities across the same systems supported by SM, and by assisting with regulatory compliance tasks. Together, SM and SCM make up NetIQ's Security Compliance Suite; however, you'll still find the Vulnerability Manager name used, as NetIQ has yet to update its Web site materials with the new SCM name.

NetIQ says that, with SM 5.6 and SCM 5.6, the products will reduce the time and resources required to identify, triage, and remediate security incidents. The products will do this by incorporating real-time configuration and change management data into the incident management workflow, the company says. They will also bring more automation to the incident response process, which will help customers with their regulatory compliance initiatives, the company adds.

Specific enhancements in SM 5.6 include a new interface that delivers customized views of security from server log files; new OLAP cubes for reporting; and summary event data. The product's access control has also been beefed up to support multiple user roles without compromising administrator integrity, as well as the capability to use a user's role or priority in determining what reports a user can make or view.

SCM 5.6 includes new exceptions management capabilities that enable enterprises to more easily manage discovered policy exceptions, or waivers, based on business practicalities; new integration points for trouble tickets with ticketing systems; and new baseline reporting capabilities to detect "configuration drift" or compromised assets.

The new releases of SM and SCM will be available in early December. SM 5.6 pricing starts at $1,155 per server, SCM 5.6 pricing starts at $1,100 per server. For more information, visit www.netiq.com.

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