Kisco Offers More, and Less, with New SafeNet/400 Release

by Alex Woodie

Whether you're looking for an advanced OS/400 network security product or a more affordable entry-level security tool, Kisco Information Systems says its SafeNet/400 security software has you covered. The vendor last week launched Version 7.0 of the product, which includes some nifty new functionality, such as a GUI management console. What's more (or, rather, less), the vendor has repackaged the product into four different versions, including a scaled-down "Lite" version that operates only at the user profile level.

SafeNet/400 is a network security utility for OS/400 that monitors and controls access to OS/400 data, through exit points. The product's features range from logging users' attempts to access the server via common security holes, such as ODBC, FTP, and SQL, to defining and enforcing access lists customized by user profiles, IP addresses, time of day, and other variables.

The biggest enhancement to the functionality of SafeNet/400 is probably the new PC-based GUI console, which Kisco calls Nav-Central. This new GUI is used to control network security settings, which were previously handled by a green-screen menu (still available in the new "basic" package; see below). In addition to controlling settings, Nav-Central can be used to review transaction history.

The Enhancements

Kisco has delivered other enhancements with this release. For example, SQL may be slow as molasses on OS/400 servers, but now monitoring the SQL exit point doesn't have to be. Kisco says SafeNet/400 7.0 delivers a 20-fold increase in SQL command checking performance.

This release also features improved checking of distributed data management (DDM) transactions, the vendor says. With SafeNet/400 7.0, DDM transactions can now be traced by the source system name or by the user profile, which, the vendor says, will prove useful for shops that use DDM to share information between attached AS/400 and iSeries systems.

The "trusted user" feature has also been enhanced with SafeNet/400 7.0. This feature, which involves turning off security monitoring for certain user profiles consuming large amounts of network bandwidth, can speed processing. Kisco says this release further limits the effect of performance bottlenecks on processing. The SafeNet/400 transaction history has also been improved to make the purge easier to run on systems with high network traffic requirements, the vendor says.

The New Packaging

Kisco has repackaged SafeNet/400 into four products, including Lite, Basic, Advanced, and Enterprise. Here's the rundown on each of these products' features and pricing.

SafeNet/400 Lite is the new name for Nsafe/400 Lite, which was a subset of the full SafeNet/400 product that includes full monitoring and logging functions but can only enforce polices at the user profile level. Pricing is unchanged from Nsafe/400 Lite, at $995 per OS/400 server, for up to 25 users.

SafeNet/400 Basic includes all of the features found in Lite, in addition to object-level security and support for enforcing SQL, CL, FTP, and other exit points. It also features the old green-screen interface, if you're into that sort of thing. Pricing is unchanged, at $1,995 per OS/400 server, for up to 25 users.

SafeNet/400 Advanced is functionally equivalent to the Basic package, with the exception of the addition of the new Nav-Central GUI. In this package, Nav-Central can be used to manage a single OS/400 server. Pricing is $2,495 per OS/400 server, for up to 25 users.

SafeNet/400 Enterprise is the same as the Advanced package but adds the capability to manage multiple OS/400 servers using Nav-Central. Pricing is $4,495 per OS/400 server, for up to 25 users.

All current SafeNet/400 customers are classified as "basic" users and will have the opportunity to upgrade to either Advanced or Enterprise levels at a "significant discount" during the rollout of Version 7.0, Kisco president Rich Loeber says.

The various versions of SafeNet/400 7.0 are shipping now. Check with Kisco for available discounts. More product information is available at www.kisco.com.

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