Attacks Spur Intrusion-Detection Efforts ( 5/28/98; 12:00 PM EST) By Rutrell Yasin, InternetWeek Corporate America's key asset -- intellectual property -- is at risk. Over the past year, there has been a rise in attempts by cyberthieves to break into corporate computer systems where much of the valuable business data is stored, according to Corporate America's Security Intelligence Risk, an upcoming WarRoom Research report. Of the 320 Fortune 1000 companies interviewed by WarRoom, 69 percent were the targets of information espionage last year, while 53 percent reported attacks in 1996, according to Mark Gembicki, president of WarRoom. To protect their corporate assets, 68 percent of the "targeted" companies implemented some form of intrusion-detection technology to safeguard their computer networks. In 1996, only 27 percent of the respondents had implemented intrusion-detection technology. Nearly 84 percent of the companies WarRoom surveyed expressed an interest in the technology, but only 31 percent expressed any level of confidence in these tools' performance, according to Gembicki. After testing some of the leading systems, Secure Networks -- a security-assessment company recently acquired by Network Associates -- issued a technical advisory earlier this year. Secure Networks found some of the network-based intrusion-detection systems were susceptible to packet-spoofing, packet fragmentation, and denial-of-service attacks. These tools are becoming hot-ticket items as vendors such as Cisco, Network Associates, and Security Dynamics enter the fray. "Intrusion detection is part of a new approach to security that is absolutely required. However, it cannot stand alone," said Winn Schwartau, president of InfoWar.com, a security consultancy. "It should be a component of an overall good network architecture," echoed David King, a product marketing manager of Cisco's NetRanger system. Intrusion detection should be used with a combination of firewalls, antivirus, authentication, and encryption tools, experts said. -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Repent Security Incorporated [www.repsec.com]
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