Security giants go cloud crazy with RSA launches

A load of vendors have chosen to hone in on the cloud craze on the first day of RSA 2012, including HP and the host itself.

HP announced an expansion of its Security Intelligence and Risk Management (SIRM) offerings, which together are similar to other security information and event management (SIEM) products, such as IBM's recently-updated QRadar platform.

The SIRM offering builds on HP's major acquisitions in the security sector over the past two years, including Arcsight, which was seen as the leader in the SIEM space.

RSA NetWitness Live has been instrumental to our customers in detecting and defeating advanced threats.

It also ties in Fortify and TippingPoint technology, packing in various pieces to help companies get a good view over " traditional, mobile and cloud environments."

The HP EnterpriseView feature, which starts at $250,000, gives an overall view of security, including a dashboard and heat map designed to let users know where the greatest risk lies.

The HP Application Security Monitor (AppSM), which starts at $5,000 per application server, brings centralised searching, reporting and analysis covering Java/.Net applications, including mobile ones.

Those two features are expected to arrive "soon," whilst others, including HP Mobile Application Security, the HP Compliance Stack and the HP TippingPoint Next-Generation Intrusion Prevention System are already available.

The host with the most?

Not to be outdone by partners on the first day of its flagship conference, RSA introduced an update of its NetWitness technology, acquired last year by EMC.

NetWitness Live has been given something of a turbo boost with 30 per cent more threat content and integration with RSA's analytics platforms to give companies a greater knowledge about dangers facing their networks.

"RSA NetWitness Live has been instrumental to our customers in detecting and defeating advanced threats," said Amit Yoran, senior vice president and general manager of RSA's security management and compliance division.

"By tapping into the collective intelligence and analytical skills of the global security community, the RSA NetWitness Live service helps organisations significantly enhance their situational awareness and shorten their time to respond to potential threats."

The cloud-based technology brings together information from the global intelligence community, amounting to around 100 different sources - 300 less than IBM's aforementioned QRadar service.

As for the analytics integration, customers will now be able to share relevant threat data across the RSA NetWitness for Logs platform and the RSA NetWitness Spectrum malware detection product.

The event has also seen Qualys, one of the original proponents of cloud-based security, launch its open source web application firewall.

More cloudy announcements are expected over the next couple of days, so check back at IT Pro for all the latest from RSA 2012.