Simplifying Security Management

Companies that want to manage all of their security gear from a single console, or Security Event Manager, will soon have two new options. By the end of September, Symantec Corp. will unveil its Security Management System, which will manage not only its own antivirus, content-filtering, firewall, virtual private network, and intrusion-detection security apps but those of competitors as well, including firewalls from Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., company execs say. Around the same time, Internet Security Systems Inc. is also expected to expand its RealSecure SiteProtector to collect and correlate information emanating from security applications, including those of competitors.

Companies are embracing the notion of managing, or simply collecting, information from disparate security applications spread throughout their enterprises. Daniel Kesl, information security officer at Newmont Mining Corp. in Denver, welcomes any product that can simplify management: "Anything that provides faster, centralized security information is a move in a positive direction."