Hackers Out of Business?

[cklaus () shadow net (Christopher Klaus)]

I just saw this ad that might interest you guys.  This is from the same
people that boasted so arrogantly on Usenet how secure their system is
and how hackers no longer really can hack, etc.  And they invited anyone
to attack their system until October 11th.  Then they would take it down.

Curious to note tho, is that their system was down after that message was 
posted for most of the time.  Atleast from people Ive talked with, they said
they couldnt ping it, nor connect to it, much less try to attack it. 

I think I could save a lot of money, if I were to secure a system by 
disconnecting it as well.  Well, nonetheless, heres the ad. 

Subject: (fwd) Press Release: Sidewinder Security Strikes Back

                  Sidewinder(tm) press release
----------------------------------------------------------------
                    N E W S     R E L E A S E

October 10, 1994

                        DISTRIBUTE WIDELY


       
       THE INTERNET HAS BECOME A SAFE PLACE TO DO BUSINESS

         Sidewinder(tm) protects information assets from 
                  the ravages of the Internet!  
                 Security That Strikes Back(tm)

The Internet - A Threat Multiplier

With 30,000,000 people already connected to the global  Internet, 
millions more want to get on the "Information Superhighway,"  but 
the dangers often outweigh the benefits:

     o Over 1 million computer break-ins in 1992 alone.
     o Foreign industrial espionage up 400%.
     o 85-97% of computer intrusions go undetected.
     o Hundreds of thousands of passwords stolen each year.
     o Malicious software, Trojan Horses and Viruses.
     o  Disgruntled  employees can easily exploit  computer  vul
nerabilities.

Connecting to the Internet is a threat multiplier, and in today's 
hostile,  globally networked society, you need the best  possible 
protection you can get. 

Introducing Sidewinder

To help combat the threats posed by the Internet, Secure  Comput
ing Corporation, the country's largest private information  secu
rity  company, with more than 150 senior degreed  security  engi
neers, has developed Sidewinder.  A technological breakthrough in 
secure inter-networking, Sidewinder  represents the   culmination 
of over 250,000 man hours of research and development. Sidewinder 
overcomes  the  deficiencies and false promises  of  conventional 
firewalls. 

"We  put Sidewinder on the Internet last month to let the  hacker 
community  attempt to penetrate the system," said Kermit  Beseke, 
CEO and President of Secure Computing. "Within a two-week period, 
hundreds of attacks were attempted, and no one got in.  In  fact, 
the Sidewinder system captured numerous attack scripts that could 
easily have thwarted other less sophisticated systems."

Sidewinder Capabilities

Sidewinder  provides all of the capabilities  that  organizations 
require when connecting to the Internet:

        o  Active defense mechanism - captures intruders:   Side
winder  has  been  designed to actively respond to  any  type  of 
outside  attack  by a hacker or malicious code.  Sidewinder  will 
react  to an attack by allowing a system administrator to  choose 
from a range of sophisticated countermeasure strategies:   Termi
nate  the attacker; Give misleading information; Strike  back  by 
identifying the attacker for future prosecution.

        o  Content-based  message  filtering:   Sidewinder   goes 
beyond  traditional  firewalls  by  incorporating   content-based 
message  filtering.  Traditional firewalls filter messages  based 
upon  the  routing address of the message, which  can  easily  be 
defeated.
  
        o  Easy access to Internet services: Sidewinder  provides 
users  with easy, user-friendly, point-and-click menus to  access 
basic Internet services.

     o One-time sniffless passwords: Sidewinder  provides  strin
gent user authentication with the LOCKout(tm) security  software.  
LOCKout is a highly secure challenge-response identification  and 
authentication system that replaces traditional passwords.

     o  Defense  in depth:   With  traditional  firewall's,  once 
security  has been compromised, the entire network is exposed  to 
the intruder.  With Sidewinder and it's patented Type Enforcement 
mechanism,  any break-in is limited to the specific assault,  and 
the  intruder cannot migrate through the rest of the  information 
infrastructure.

Secure  Computing also provides a Security Alert Service  to  any 
organization that installs Sidewinder.  With this Service, organ
izations  are kept informed about current hacker  techniques  and 
attack scripts, as well as other potential risks.

Proven Security Solution

"Secure Computing has leveraged heavily off of it's patented Type 
Enforcement  technology, which is currently being used to protect 
U.S.   Government  classified  networks,"  said  Kevin  Sorensen, 
Director of Marketing for Secure Computing. "These  sophisticated 
security  mechanisms  have been repackaged  into  the  commercial 
Sidewinder product."

Sidewinder not only secures Internet access, it also secures  the 
countless  inter-networks  which make up the  fabric  of  today's 
technical  business  environment.   As an  increasing  number  of 
organizations conduct business and financial transactions on  the  
Internet,  security  becomes  more paramount  than  ever  before.  
Secure  Computing  now offers Sidewinder  to  defend  information 
assets and systems from attack. 

For more information please contact:

Kevin Sorensen
Secure Computing Corporation
2675 Long Lake Road
Roseville, MN 55113
Phone: (800) 692-LOCK
FAX: (612) 628-2701
E-Mail: sidewinder () sctc com

Media Contact:

Winn Schwartau
Interpact, Inc.
Phone: (813) 393-6600
Fax: (813) 393-6361
E-Mail: P00506 () Psilink Com

(c) October  1994,  Secure Computing Corporation. All  rights  re
served. Product names used within are trademarks of their respec
tive owners.





-- 
Christopher William Klaus  <cklaus () shadow net>  <iss () shadow net>
Internet Security Systems, Inc.         Computer Security Consulting
2209 Summit Place Drive,              Penetration Analysis of Networks
Atlanta,GA 30350-2430. (404)518-0099. Fax: (404)518-0030