Lancope Cracks Down on P2P

ATLANTA -- Lancope, Inc., the leading provider of behavior-based threat detection and network intelligence solutions, today announced the general availability of the StealthWatch 3.1 release which provides customers innovative behavior-based detection of unauthorized file sharing activity, advanced Syslog Support and DNS resolution for improved policy enforcement, interoperability and ease-of-use. This latest release further enables users to more effectively and efficiently protect and manage their network resources.

"Many corporate users may not be aware, or are completely ignorant, of the IT resource consumption associated with listening to online music or watching streaming media from their desktops," said Brian Burke, analyst for IDC. "In addition, applications acquired through insecure grid computing or P2P [peer-to-peer] protocols often enter the corporate environment without being scanned for viruses or malicious code."

Taking an aggressive stance against digital copyright infringement, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is collecting evidence against P2P users and preparing lawsuits against file sharers who illegally offer music online. In a recent example, Integrated Information Systems, a high-tech company, paid RIAA $1 million in an out-of-court settlement, after the company allegedly permitted its employees to share copyrighted MP3 files on its corporate network.

In spite of these risks, a study by Ottawa-based AssetMetrix Research Labs of P2P file sharing activity in 560 companies found that approximately 77 percent of all corporations had file sharing activity and that 1 in 25 employees was using P2P applications. Despite pervasive use of file sharing applications, a recent CIO survey estimated that 64 percent of companies do not monitor music or video downloads.

"Continuous network availability and protection of confidential information remain critical business issues, but the growing threat of substantial legal and financial penalties is severe," said Harland LaVigne, president and CEO of Lancope. "Increasingly, companies recognize that widespread P2P usage and other unauthorized file sharing applications pose considerable security risks, consume valuable network resources and expose the organization to significant legal and financial liability. With StealthWatch 3.1, companies can minimize security, legal and financial risks while maximizing utilization of network resources by identifying and eliminating employee use of file sharing technologies."

Key new features introduced in StealthWatch 3.1:

The StealthWatch 3.1 release is currently available to customers on both the G1 and M100 models. Pricing for StealthWatch G1, which handles gigabit traffic, begins at $35,000. Pricing for StealthWatch M100, which handles speeds up to 100Mbps, begins at $20,000.

Lancope Inc.