CacheFlow has released a Web site security product and rebranded
itself as Bluecoat Systems to reflect a change in emphasis as
cacheing technology loses its specialist status, writes Eric
Doyle.
Over the past year or so the company has moved away from
straightforward cacheing for improved Web site responses and Secure
Sockets Layer processing by adding extra security layers. This has
proved necessary as improved bandwidth and the embedding of caching
in standard products has made point solutions less attractive.
Nigel Hawthorn, CacheFlow's European marketing director, said, "We
will still be selling our range of products under the new company
name but we are also introducing security gateways based on the
experience we have gained in packet filtering."
The new product is designed to run in series or parallel with
existing firewalls. These generally leave port 80, which is
configured for Web traffic, vulnerable to attack. According to a
Business Week Online report, 70% of all intrusion attempts now
target port 80.
Using filtering methods, packets passing through the port will be
examined according to a user-defined policy to ensure that only
sanctioned data passes through. The filter control list can be
governed by technical parameters such as header contents or Mime
(Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) type or according to the
time of day the packet is received. "The administrator will be able
to tightly specify who can access what and what can be accessed
outside," Hawthorn said.
A useful function of the Port 80 Access Appliance is its ability to
scan packets for information relating to a company's intranet. This
information is usually irrelevant outside the corporate network but
can give useful information to would-be hackers, such as domain
names and e-mail addresses. Once the information has been located
it can then be stripped out before the data passes across to the
Internet.