Cisco boosts security appliances with advanced malware protection

• Provides customers with comprehensive malware-defeating capabilities, company claims
• One of the initial technology integration efforts between Cisco and Sourcefire, which it acquired

CISCO Inc said it has added Advanced Malware Protection (AMP), originally developed by Sourcefire, into its Content Security Portfolio of products, including Web and Email Security Appliances and Cloud Web Security Service.
 
The integration provides customers with comprehensive malware-defeating capabilities, including detection and blocking, continuous analysis and retrospective remediation of advanced threats, the company said in a statement.
 
This enhanced offering represents one of the initial technology integration efforts between Cisco and Sourcefire, and extends the option of advanced malware protection for more than 60 million enterprise and commercial users currently protected with Cisco Content Security solutions, Cisco said.
 
Advanced Malware Protection utilises the vast cloud security intelligence networks of both Cisco and Sourcefire (now part of Cisco).
 
Like the attacks it is designed to protect against, AMP evolves to provide continuous monitoring and analysis across the extended network and throughout the full attack continuum – before, during and after an attack, the company said.
 
By combining Sourcefire’s knowledge of advanced threats and analytics expertise with Cisco’s Email and Web Security solutions, customers benefit from unmatched visibility and control combined with a cost-effective and seamless approach to addressing advanced malware problems, it claimed.
 
Cisco has also added Cognitive Threat Analytics, acquired last year via Cognitive Security, as an option for Cisco Cloud Web Security customers.
 
Cognitive Threat Analytics is a highly intuitive, self-taught system that uses behavioural modelling and anomaly detection to identify malicious activity and reduce time to discovery of threats operating inside the network.
 
“Today’s advanced threats that can attack hosts through a combination of different vectors require a continuous security response versus point in time solutions,” said Christopher Young (pic), senior vice president of the Cisco Security Business Group.
 
“Web and email gateways do a large amount of heavy lifting in the threat defence ecosystem, blocking the delivery of malicious content.
 
“By bringing together AMP and threat analytics with our Web, Cloud Web and Email Security gateways, we provide our customers with the best advanced malware protection from the cloud to the network to the endpoint,” he added.
 
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