RE: Re[2]: Kernel sec. systems WAS: Why eEye Retina (was MBSA scanner)

["Chuck Fullerton" <chuckf69 () ceinetworks com>]

My 2 cents on Okena (now Cisco Secure Agent).  I worked for a Cisco Reseller
when they bought the Okena product.  I got to play with it extensively in
order to support it for our customers.

Overall I think the product went from A- to B.  This is because Cisco had to
make it compatable with their CiscoWorks product.  In my humble opinion, it
should have been the other way around.

The CiscoWorks managment console is quirky, clumsy, and slow.  It requires a
kick-ass machine and it's still slow.

If your familiar with CiscoWorks then by all means it's a great product.
However, You shouldn't have to get a "Cisco College Degree" in order to use
the product.

Chuck Fullerton
CISSP, OPST, CSS1, CCNP, CCDA, CNA, A+


-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Ostrom [mailto:jpo () pobox com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2004 5:54 PM
To: Marc Maiffret
Cc: pen-test () securityfocus com
Subject: Re[2]: Kernel sec. systems WAS: Why eEye Retina (was MBSA
scanner)


Marc,

I do agree with you when you said kernel protection systems alone are
not enough, but I also think there is not a single silver bullet here,
and the same can be said for any product.

I would be interested to see how the eEye Blink IPS differs in
regards to protecting against vulnerabilities specifically (rather
than just exploits), and how this differs from Okena.

<<
Marc Maiffret> Okena "works" because no one
Marc Maiffret> knowledgeable has said otherwise. Okena has
Marc Maiffret> taken the same flawed approach as
Marc Maiffret> network IDS systems focusing on
Marc Maiffret> protecting from exploits, and not
Marc Maiffret> vulnerabilities specifically. Although
Marc Maiffret> they have done so by doing detection of
Marc Maiffret> exploits at the kernel level,
Marc Maiffret> instead of at the network level.
> >

To be fair to Okena, and all marketing aside, it does provide patch
relief for most vulnerabilities, and isn't this adding an extra layer
of security?  I can also see the Security Policy compliance
benefit in locking down the user groups with the rule-based behavior, i.e.
Group A can not use Kazaa, Group B can only use Yahoo IM, etc.

Jason


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