First Non-Stop Protection Platform for Network and Application Level Threats

HostReview.com
Monday, November 10, 2003; 12:00 AM

Westboro, MA, November 10, 2003 - Top Layer Networks, a provider of globally proven intrusion prevention solutions, today announced a new level of critical asset protection with the Attack Mitigator IPS 5500 security platform. The platform is part of Top Layer's strategy to provide enterprises, service providers, and government institutions with innovative intrusion prevention solutions that protect critical online assets from the growing number of network and application level cyber threats.

The Attack Mitigator IPS 5500 is the first family of high-performance in-line security devices that deliver non-stop protection against both network and application-level cyber threats. Top Layer Networks has developed the Attack Mitigator IPS 5500 product family using advanced TopInspect™ deep packet inspection technology to provide protection of critical on-line assets while meeting demanding network security infrastructure requirements. By offering comprehensive non-stop protection and outstanding performance, organizations can be protected from the most serious threats x such as Code Red, MS Blaster, SQL Slammer and others x as well as exploits of application vulnerabilities that are being discovered regularly.

"Firewall-based prevention solutions that function with deep packet inspection techniques are key to effective protection from the growing number of cyber threats," said Richard Stiennon, research vice president for Gartner. "This next generation of protection must encapsulate protection from both network-level and application-level threats in a single, inline device."

Top Layer's second-generation ASIC technology and patented algorithms integrate proven stateful analysis, new TopInspect™ deep packet inspection technology, and industry-leading anti-DDoS mechanisms to provide comprehensive protection. Top Layer's approach to intrusion prevention focuses on providing superior protection against severe threats, including those that exploit critical vulnerabilities as identified by the SANS Top 20 and ISS Catastrophic Risk Index.

"Our customers tell us that they want to protect their critical assets from these proliferating threats in a way that offers both high performance and reliability," said Peter Rendall, president and CEO of Top Layer Networks. "Organizations evaluating intrusion prevention technologies need to consider three things x solid protection, absolute reliability and excellent performance. These attributes were the design focus for the Attack Mitigator IPS 5500 platform."

Attack Mitigator IPS 5500 Product Family Benefits

The Attack Mitigator IPS 5500 serves to protect critical assets for organizations that rely on connectivity for business operations and communications x whether between employees, customers, partners or prospects.

· Advanced Protection x Safeguards assets from critical network and application level threats by blending protection against known attacks on critical vulnerabilities with expandability to protect against application-specific threats

· Industry-Leading Performance x High performance is delivered via the ASIC-based architecture, resulting in low-latency, high-throughput (multi-gigabit speeds) and high connection rates

· High Reliability x High reliability system design and execution of security policies with minimal operator intervention provides non-stop attack mitigation to help ensure business continuity around the clock

Attack Mitigator IPS 5500 Product Family Features

The Attack Mitigator IPS 5500 provides broad protection. The platform prevents undesired access, filters illegal packets (such as LAN.d attacks) and illegal headers (such as IP options), stops network attacks (such as fragmentation attacks) and denial of service attacks (such as SYN Flood DDoS), prevents exploits of critical vulnerabilities (such as SQL Slammer, MS-Blaster and other worms), mitigates service overload attacks (such as SPAM-load artifacts), and thwarts application-level attacks (such as reverse directory traversal exploits). In addition, the Attack Mitigator IPS 5500's Application Specific Processor (ASP) allows for easy expansion to include additional application protection functions as they become available. This enables companies to scale their security infrastructure to meet growth needs and evolving threat assessment concerns. Features of the Attack Mitigator IPS 5500 include:

· Non-stop protection against network-level and application-level threats before they reach critical on-line assets, preventing loss and eliminating the need for remediation of affected systems

· Advanced protection is enabled by the integration of Top Layer's proven stateful analysis engine and new TopInspect™ Deep Packet Inspection technology

· DDoS protection - The industry's most effective protection against debilitating high volume SYN Flood Attacks

· Industry leading performance: 60,000 stateful inspection connections per second and up to 60,000 deep packet inspections per second with switch-like network latency and high throughput

· Reliable network operation provided by high-MTBF ASIC-based hardware design, redundant, hot-swappable power supplies and hot swappable fan-tray, along with secure custom O/S and flexible port-bypass capabilities

· Deployment flexibility: Transparent Layer 2 network operation enables deployment at either network perimeters or protecting critical on-line assets without requiring changes to network routing infrastructure

· Enterprise security management - Top Layer's rich event logging format integrates with leading event management tools. Easy to use Web-based device management uses an asset-protection model, which is consistent with security best practices

· Flexible platform architecture sets the foundation for both infrastructure protection as well as transaction/data protection via expansion modules

About Top Layer Networks, Inc.

Founded in 1997, Top Layer Networks (http://www.TopLayer.com) develops network security solutions that enable enterprises worldwide to protect their infrastructure and critical online assets from cyber threats. The Company's patented, ASIC-based products are engineered to deliver accurate and reliable protection mechanisms while operating as robust in-line network devices. Top Layer Networks is headquartered in Westboro, Massachusetts with sales and support presence in France, Germany, Japan, Korea, and the United Kingdom.

Contact: Donna Rogers Top Layer Networks Phone: 508-870-1300 Email: drogers@TopLayer.com Matt Flannigan Fama PR Phone: 617-758-4141 Email: matt@famapr.com