Computer Associates International (CA) knows this. No wonder it has come up with a more innovative approach in enabling corporations to secure their networks by pinpointing even the most subtle security breaches in the largest and most complex work environments. CA unveiled here this week a prototype of its eTrust 20/20, a patent-pending software that makes use of the technology erstwhile present only on fighter jets. The eTrust 20/20 has the capability to see through walls, track abnormal activities and alert security managers to any irregularities.
CA president and CEO Sanjay Kumar himself gave a demonstration of the eTrust 20/20 and labeled it the most sensible network security product ever created. He was able to make this pitch because the software strikes a balance in the use of "physical" security and "electronic" security.
And the eTrust 20/20 even tries to balance the monitoring process so as not to make employees feel they are being spied on.
"This software has the intelligence technology that can pick up abnormal activities by collecting and analyzing data gathered from physical access such as doors and electronic access such as e-mails. It monitors everybody’s daily activities and analyzes them to come up with a pattern considered normal behavior. Whenever a deviation in that normal behavior occurs, it alerts the security manager," he said.
In his demo, Kumar used the case of CA’s headquarters in Islandia, New York as an example. The building has been subdivided into different sections, all of which have been fitted with ID card readers. With these ID card readers, a security manager can track the movement of every single person in the building. And since every employee has his own password for computer access, the security manager can monitor anytime what an employee is doing in any computer terminal and what data he is accessing.
All activities in CA’s headquarters are logged and analyzed. The eTrust 20/20 then plots a normal day for each person in the building and every deviation from the norm is recorded. Hence, security managers need not monitor everyone all the time. The eTrust 20/20 does the monitoring for them.
Kumar said the new software will be available later this year on a subscription-only basis. The eTrust 20/20, he said, is scalable, meaning it can fit organizations of any size. It can also fit most companies’ budget, he said.
"Not every company would want to monitor all the smallest activities within their premises. They just have to tell us what activities are important to them and we can tailor the eTrust 20/20 to their needs," Kumar said. – Junep Ocampo