Securing the cloud

Cloud computing may be all the rage these days but it throws up its own unique security headaches for CIOs, according to Thomas Jell.

“Attackers broadcast an average of 40,000 computer security threats each day at an estimated cost of €70 billion per annum”
-Thomas Jell, NETGEAR

Making the move to cloud computing is a key strategic commitment that can transform productivity and business agility. The critical issue is security; you need an infrastructure protected at every step to allow the full deployment of applications and services that will deliver the phenomenal returns a private cloud architecture can bring. The latest developments in Stream Scanning Technology and Distributed Spam Analysis from NETGEAR are unlocking the full potential of cloud computing for businesses of every size.

The pace of change in the online world seems only to be matched by the ability of hostile users to develop ingenious new ways of bypassing trusted security systems. The figures, as always, are alarming. Gartner tells us that in 2007 the number of web-hosted threats increased 800 percent, while another recent study found that 79 percent of web-hosted threats come from legitimate sites, which have been hijacked by hackers. Then we learn that attackers broadcast an average of 40,000 computer security threats each day -15 million each year - at an estimated cost of €70 billion per annum. Yet the reality is that security technologies have taken a major stride in their battle against the ever-changing threats. When it is protected by the intelligent and proactive security solutions now available, moving to the private cloud is a practical, productive and cost-effective strategy.

Unified defence

NETGEAR's patent-pending Stream Scanning Technology is designed to accommodate the unique needs of a virtualised or cloud-based infrastructure. The NETGEAR ProSecure STM family of web and email threat management appliances incorporates both Stream Scanning Technology and Distributed Spam Analysis, giving organisations a unified defence against some of the most sophisticated threats now circulating the Internet. Stream Scanning Technology brings network security fully into the online world by operating in the same way as the threats it is facing. Conventional computer security solutions use batch scanning, in which a file must be downloaded completely before it is scanned, causing unacceptable latency in the network. The new ProSecure appliances deploy Stream Scanning Technology to begin the scan as the first packets arrive, rather than waiting for a complete file. If there is a threat, it is detected sooner, and if the file is clean it passes through the defences with negligible disruption.

Proactive spam protection

NETGEAR's Distributed Spam Analysis focuses on the threat carried by email and employs a cloud-based architecture to apply an unprecedented level of sophistication to its defences. The solution consists of two elements: the ProSecure STM gateway security appliance, and the NETGEAR Spam Classification Center for in-the-cloud Distributed Spam Analysis. The STM appliance communicates with the Spam Classification Centre in real time, obtaining up-to-the-second information on spam and malware outbreaks. All types of email-borne threats can be detected and classified instantly, based on the analysis of more than 50 million sources around the world.

In comprehensive benchmark testing, NETGEAR Stream Scanning Technology consistently performed five times faster than traditional batch-based solutions. Independent tests by Miercom also demonstrated that the ProSecure STM family stopped over 50 percent more threats than competitive products tested, including more than 99 perent of all spam and email threats.

Tests were also conducted on the NETGEAR ProSecure UTM family of Unified Threat Management appliances, focusing on their ability to stop malware and viruses. A partnership of two leading independent test laboratories in Germany, AV-Test GmbH and The Tolly Group, found ProSecure up to four times more effective than competitor products.

The NETGEAR ProSecure STM family includes the ProSecure STM150, STM300 and STM600 models. It has been successfully implemented in a wide range of industries - from government, to healthcare, to retail - with deployments ranging from small companies with fewer than 50 users, to geographically dispersed networks comprising thousands of users. As the private network moves to the private cloud, it now has the intelligent security it needs to reach its full productive potential.

Thomas Jell has been Managing Director of NETGEAR Germany for three-and-a-half years. Having initially joined the company as a Retail Account Manager in 1999, he is now recognised for building the NETGEAR home business in Central Europe. Jell is married with two children and lives close to Munich.