[ISN] Lockstep repairs hacked Web sites with WebAgain

From: InfoSec News (isnat_private)
Date: Wed Feb 20 2002 - 00:17:41 PST

  • Next message: InfoSec News: "[ISN] Virus Responsible for Gates Security Memo"

    http://www.computerworld.com/storyba/0,4125,NAV47_STO68450,00.html
    
    By SAM COSTELLO
    IDG NEWS SERVICE 
    February 19, 2002
    
    Lockstep Systems Inc. Tuesday announced a new version of its WebAgain
    automated Web site repair software, adding detection and removal of
    trojan horses and backdoor programs, better support for virtual
    private networks (VPN), expanded protocol support and international
    language editions.
    
    WebAgain allows Web sites that are compromised or modified by
    attackers to automatically be restored to their proper state,
    according to Mark Dixon, vice president of business development at
    Lockstep. The software does this by sitting on a server placed between
    Web designers and the Web servers they publish their work to, he said.  
    Instead of publishing Web site changes to a test or production server,
    developers publish their changes to the WebAgain server, which
    immediately makes an archive of the site and then publishes the
    changes to the proper server, Dixon said.
    
    The WebAgain server can then monitor the publicly available Web site
    for changes and if it finds any, return them to the state saved on the
    server, Dixon explained, adding that the changed content is also saved
    for law enforcement or research purposes. Monitoring can be done with
    varying degrees of thoroughness every minute, hour or a few times a
    day, depending on a user's needs.
    
    WebAgain Version 2.5 boosts the capabilities of the software by adding
    the ability to detect the unauthorized addition of files to a Web
    server. It also adds support for VPN, file transfer protocol and Front
    Page extensions.
    
    The software is also available in Japanese, with future international
    versions to follow, Dixon said.
    
    WebAgain is "a very smart product," said Ken Pappas, president of Opal
    One, a Tyngsborough, Mass.-based analyst firm. The product can do what
    Lockstep claims it can, and does it well, he said.
    
    Pappas said the product could have mass appeal to business, and should
    be especially popular with online retailers, companies with online
    catalogs and financial services firms. The automatic repair feature
    will be particularly compelling due to the time and money it will
    save, he said.
    
    "If you don't need to put an IT guy on a particular problem, then
    you're ahead of the game," he said.
    
    Despite his praise for the product, Pappas said he would like Lockstep
    to add to WebAgain support for more platforms and the ability to
    monitor servers located on a network separate from the WebAgain
    server.
    
    Nevertheless, "I think it's a legitimate product," he said.
    
    WebAgain runs on Windows NT, 2000 and XP. A license costs $995, with
    each Web site -- or site subsection, as defined by where a Web
    designer has to log on to a new site -- requiring a separate license.  
    The software is immediately available worldwide.
    
    
    
    -
    ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org
    
    To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY
    of the mail.
    



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Wed Feb 20 2002 - 03:29:52 PST