CA, Cisco fortify security arsenal

With recent security breaches involving universities, credit card processors, and financial institutions making headlines, security technology vendors are moving to strengthen their product lines by acquiring new technologies or by upgrading current products.

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Computer Associates last week announced the acquisition of Tiny Software, a developer of firewall technology for Windows desktops and servers.

The acquisition adds new firewall technology to CA's line of security software. CA will continue to market Tiny Software products as stand-alone offerings but will also incorporate them into its eTrust Integrated Threat Management software line.

CA was not alone in making a security acquisition last week. In its seventh security-related acquisition since 2003, Cisco said it plans to acquire NetSift for $30 million. NetSift will give Cisco deep packet processing technology, which Cisco said it plans to add to its modular switching platforms.

"Security has become a key factor for businesses," said Kevin Mitnick of Mitnick Security Consulting. "Everyone wants to know that their systems are secure, so they are looking for more products with security features and more products to assure them that their IT organizations are secure."

In other security news, Palisade Systems recently released PacketSure 4.0, a content security appliance that identifies, reports, and blocks content that violates corporate security and compliance policies.

Last week Newbury Networks introduced WiFi Watchdog 5.0, which uses location technology for intrusion prevention, rogue containment, and client protection for WLANs.

This week, Secure Software will release the CodeAssure 2.0 suite for source code analysis and for integrating security testing with quality assurance tools and processes.