NetEqualizer News Blog

Greetings!

Enjoy another issue of NetEqualizer News! This month, we ask for suggestions regarding potential hosts for our next NetEqualizer Technical Seminar, discuss NetEqualizer’s selection for use in the United States National Park system, preview our new increased cache size, feature a new NetGladiator white paper, and more! As always, feel free to pass this along to others who might be interested in NetEqualizer News.

We’ve been writing and thinking a lot about security lately. Just the other day, my neighbor received a business card from the Sheriff informing him that he’d checked out his house to make sure everything was alright due to a backyard sliding-glass door being ajar. This made me think about a corollary in web application security. It is much more rare in the online world that someone kindly alerts you to security vulnerabilities and then does no harm – unless of course you’ve hired them! That makes it even more important to protect your networks and data with layered security controls.

We love it when we hear back from you – so if you have a story you would like to share with us of how we have helped you, let us know. Email me directly here. I would love to hear from you!

:: We Are Looking for a Seminar Host!

:: NetEqualizer Selected to Support Internet Access in US National Parks

:: Larger Cache Available for NetEqualizer

:: NetGladiator White Paper and Research

:: Best Of The Blog

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We Are Looking for a Seminar Host!

Plans are now in the works for our next complimentary NetEqualizer Technical Seminar. We’re currently taking suggestions for potential hosts, so if you’re interested, be sure to let us know.

In order to maximize our reach based on previous technical seminars, we are ideally looking for hosts in one the following areas:

– Washington, D.C.

– San Francisco, California (Bay Area)

– Florida (Southeastern United States)

Here’s what we’ll be covering in the seminar:

– The various tradeoffs regarding how to stem P2P and bandwidth abuse.

– Recommendations for curbing RIAA requests.

– Demo of the new NetEqualizer network access control module.

– Intrusion detection discussion with an experienced, professional hacker.

– Lots of customer Q&A and information sharing.

We hope to see as many of you there as possible, and once we select a host site, more details and dates will follow – so stay tuned!

Thank you!

NetEqualizer Selected to Support Internet Access in US National Parks

The NetEqualizer was recently selected by Global Gossip to provide bandwidth arbitration for their High-Speed Internet Access (HSIA) offering in many United States National Parks.

The Internet connections available in these remote locations often lack the available bandwidth of urban locales. This fact makes it that much more important that one or two users can’t monopolize the connection.

Global Gossip’s Vice President of US Operations, Stephanie Dickens, says “The use of the NetEqualizer greatly diminishes the need for hands-on bandwidth management… We are thoroughly satisfied with the NetEqualizer’s remote management capabilities and its ease-of-use.”

NetEqualizers are currently deployed at the Furnace Creek Resort in Death Valley National Park, throughout guest and employee accommodations in Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, and five Ohio State Parks. The NetEqualizer will be deployed with the Global Gossip system in several more US locations before the end of 2012.

So next time you are smoothly streaming video on your iPad in Yellowstone while waiting for Old Faithful to erupt, think of us!

Larger Cache Available for NetEqualizer

We are excited to announce a larger cache upgrade for the NetEqualizer that is available now!

The upgrade increases the cache size from 140GB to 750GB and is available to both existing and new customers. If you are an existing customer with a valid NSS, we will send you a new hard drive and help you get it up and running for $1,000. For new customers, the upgraded cache costs $2,750.

If you have any questions about the new cache size option, feel free to contact us:

sales@apconnections.net

-or-

worldwide (303) 997-1300 x103. -or-

toll-free U.S. (888) 287-2492

NetGladiator White Paper and Research

NetGladiator is a brand new next-generation web application Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) that was developed by APconnections (creators of the NetEqualizer) and released last month. We discussed it in detail in the February Newsletter and have been talking about security a lot lately – both internally and on our blog.

We’ve also been doing a fair amount of research. Our executive white paper, available for download here, is a concise summary of the NetGladiator technology and the security issues it helps control.

Be sure to check it out to see if NetGladiator could be a valuable asset in your current layered security strategy – and if you don’t have a solid security plan in place, we can help with that too!

For More information on the NetGladiator, take a look at our website.

You can also visit our blog or contact us:

ips@apconnections.net

-or-

worldwide (303) 997-1300 x103. -or-

toll-free U.S. (888) 287-2492

Best Of The Blog

By Art Reisman – CTO – NetEqualizer

We see quite a bit of investment when it comes to data security. Many solutions are selected on the quantity of threats deterred. Large feature sets, driven by FUD, are exponential in cost, and at some point the price of the security solution will outweigh the benefit. But where do you draw the line?

Note:

1) It is relatively easy to cover 95 percent of the real security threats that can damage a business’s bottom line or reputation.

2) It is totally impossible to completely secure data.

3) The cost for security starts to hockey stick as you push toward the mythical 100 percent secure solution.

For example, let’s assume you can stop 95 percent of potential security breaches with an investment of $10, but it would cost $10 million to achieve 99 percent coverage. What would you do? Obviously you’d stop someplace between 95 and 99 percent coverage. Hence, the point of this post. The tips below are intended to help with the 95 percent rule, what is reasonable and cost effective. You should never be spending more money securing an asset than that asset is worth.

Some real world examples of reducing practical physical risk would be putting life jackets in a watercraft, or an airbag in an automobile. If we took the approach to securing your water craft or automobile with the FUD of data security, everybody would be driving 5 million dollar Abrams tanks, and trout fishing in double hulled aircraft carriers.

Below are some security ideas to protect your data that should greatly reduce your risk at a minimal investment.

1) Use your firewall to block all uninitiated requests from outside the region where you do business.

For example, let’s assume you are a regional medical supply company in the US. What is the likelihood that you will be getting a legitimate inquiry from a customer in China, India, or Africa? Probably not likely at all…

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

(Let the good times roll!)

February is typically a dull month in Colorado – save the occasional day we can get up to the mountains to ski. This makes it a great time to travel. Mardi Gras is easily the most entertaining holiday the month has to offer, and New Orleans is an amazing city with great culture and food. One of our staff members ventured South this year for Fat Tuesday and took this picture of a festive house on St. Charles Avenue.