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FaceTime Application Detection Raises Stakes in Network Security
Offers Patented Technology to Identify and Control 1,400 Real Time and Web 2.0 Applications and 50,000 Social Networking Apps
| Source: FaceTime Communications
BELMONT, CA--(Marketwire - December 8, 2008) - FaceTime Communications, the leading provider
of solutions that manage Web 2.0 and unified communications in the
enterprise today announced its patented application inspection and
classification technology is now available for license to network security
equipment manufacturers who are interested in offering more application
control in their products. Dubbed ACE, for Application Control
Engine, the perimeter-based application filter identifies and
categorizes more than 1,400 Web 2.0 applications and more than 50,000
additional application "widgets" distributed via social networking sites
such as Facebook, MySpace and Orkut. Backed by FaceTime Security Labs'
exclusive application analysis and categorization, ACE automatically
updates its database to stay current with new application detections.
At its core, ACE is the technology that sets FaceTime's award-winning
Unified Security Gateway appliance apart from all other network
security appliances. The USG enables enterprises to control real-time
communications integrating management, security and compliance of Web
communications, consumer-driven applications such as public IM, Skype and
P2P and enterprise-class unified communications suites such as Microsoft's
Office
Communications Server and IBM Lotus Sametime.
"The widespread adoption of email was a key driver for the anti-virus
scanning industry, and the Web browser led to a standard requirement for
URL filtering databases," said Frank Cabri, vice president of marketing for
FaceTime Communications. "In the same way, the current explosion of
real-time and Web 2.0 applications is prompting a need for application
filtering to examine, classify and control the evasive applications that
are running over corporate networks today."
"The competitive landscape in markets such as UTM and network firewalls has
escalated with increasing pressure from customers who require deep
inspection of the application traffic entering the enterprise at the
network perimeter," said Brian Burke, program director for IDC's Network
Security Service. "To remain competitive, incumbent vendors must provide
this comprehensive application visibility and control -- and partnering
will provide the fastest and most efficient path."
Market Requirements for Application Identification and Control
As revealed in the research report The Collaborative Internet: Usage
Trends, End User Attitudes and IT Impact commissioned by FaceTime and based
on an independent study by NewDiligence, 62 percent of IT respondents
reported eight or more Internet applications installed on their enterprise
networks -- representing a 300 percent increase over the first study
conducted in 2005. Further, they noted that about one-third of end users
continue to download the applications they want to use on their desktops,
regardless of company policy -- and these applications are used about
equally for business and personal reasons.
While many Web-based applications can be identified and blocked by a URL
signature, newer Internet applications are typically not browser-based and
therefore require specialized handling to effectively identify and classify
their true nature. Identifying these applications presents a new challenge
for enterprise IT. As more and more applications masquerade themselves as
HTTP, FTP, SMTP and Telnet traffic, while exhibiting evasive techniques, it
becomes increasingly difficult for Unified Threat Management (UTM),
Firewall, Secure Web Gateway (SWG) and IPS solutions that rely on simple
signature matching techniques to accurately identify, and therefore control
them.
Application control is identified as one of the six key evaluation criteria
for the September 2008 Gartner report Magic Quadrant for Secure Web
Gateway. In the report, analysts Peter Firstbrook and Lawrence Orans
conclude that "application control is the most immature SWG feature. IM,
Skype and peer-to-peer (P2P) applications are the most commonly supported;
however, few SWG solutions can do more than block or allow access on a
group or user level. Even fewer use application network signatures versus
more-easily evaded URL or Internet Protocol (IP) address blocking."
Likewise, application identification is one of four key areas noted as
recommended components of the Next Generation Firewall, by Gartner analysts
Greg Young and John Pescatore in their November 2008 report Magic Quadrant
for Enterprise Network Firewalls. The report proclaims that "simply
enforcing proper protocol use on standard ports is no longer of sufficient
value in this environment. If firewall vendors do not make these changes,
enterprises will demand price concessions to reduce firewall costs
substantially."
About ACE
The Application Control Engine™ (ACE™) enables security and network
solution providers to embed application filtering technology to accurately
identify and manage real-time applications on the network. ACE employs
patented technology to enable high-performance detection and categorization
of more than 1,400 distinct applications -- regardless of port, protocol,
or evasive technique used to traverse the network. Based on the same
technology integral to FaceTime's Unified Security Gateway, the ACE
software developers kit (SDK) allows solution providers to easily extend
their offerings to help customers manage instant messaging, peer-to-peer
file sharing, social networking, Web 2.0, voice-over-IP, anonymizers, IPTV,
multimedia, games, virtual worlds, and unified communications.
FaceTime's U.S. patent for classifying and identifying network traffic
flows forms the technology foundation for ACE. Available only from
FaceTime, this technology provides unparalleled accuracy and application
coverage through active monitoring and dynamic correlation of network,
content, traffic and other session characteristics. ACE creates a profile
of both the specific application in use along with the unique feature being
executed (e.g. a file attachment sent via instant messaging) allowing ACE
Program Partners to deliver granular policy and control over real-time
applications within their products.
Purpose built for today's applications, the engine includes built-in
support for daily auto-updates of new applications provided by FaceTime
Security Labs. These updates occur through the ongoing collection, analysis
and categorization of application information from hundreds of thousands of
end-points deployed throughout the world both in enterprise networks and on
consumer PCs. This data is analyzed and confirmed by FaceTime Security
Labs' researchers to insure that its application database is current.
About FaceTime Communications
FaceTime Communications enables the safe and productive use of instant
messaging, Web usage and Unified Communications platforms. FaceTime's
award-winning solutions are used by more than 1,000 customers for security,
management and compliance of real-time communications. FaceTime supports or
has strategic partnerships with all leading public and enterprise IM
network providers, including AOL, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Skype, IBM and
Jabber.
FaceTime is headquartered in Belmont, California. For more information
visit http://www.facetime.com or call 888-349-FACE. The FaceForward blog,
at http://blog.facetime.com, offers thoughts and opinions about the
changing nature of Internet.
FaceTime, FaceTime Communications, IMAuditor, FaceTime Unified Security
Gateway, FaceTime Security Labs, SpywareGuide.com and the FaceTime logo are
registered trademarks and trademarks of FaceTime Communications, Inc. Other
trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.