A web-based platform, Security Manager increases the visibility into device controls and configurations that allow enterprises to monitor and modify policies to maximize security on the network. Customers can experience more effective security management, lower cost of operations and reduced exposure to risk. “Our platform has helped many enterprise customers and Federal agencies—that often spend millions of dollars in security infrastructure—to effectively manage their network infrastructure while optimizing resources and reducing costs,” states Brazil. “The platform’s dynamic and flexible application programming interface (API), allows it to smoothly integrate into today’s diverse enterprise environments for comprehensive, centralized management of network security infrastructure,” says Brazil.

The More the Better

FireMon’s security platform is complemented with the presence of four modules—Risk Analyzer, Policy Optimizer, Policy Planner and Immediate Insight—that integrate seamlessly into the application. The Risk Analyzer, Policy Optimizer and Policy Planner are optional add-on modules that customers can add to their system to extend the capabilities, while Immediate Insight is a standalone application that can be deployed with or without the Security Manager platform. Immediate Insight helps organizations search data to identify any unseen threats and risks in an organization. It collects and correlates IT data to help analysts and operations staff increase visibility into the data and reduce the time and effort spent on incident triage. “By bringing in data from an unlimited number of sources, whether it’s from applications, hosts firewalls or network logs from packet captures or email boxes, users can discover events within the organization and respond immediately,” says Brazil.

"We understand where the weakness lies and help clients efficiently and effectively secure their enterprises"

While taking care of the security at one end, “making changes in security policies always open up your organization to risks,” says Brazil. As such, the Policy Planner module automates the firewall change process with an intelligent workflow solution that solves unique challenges associated with firewall change management. “We help automate the change process not only to make the changes faster, but more importantly to make the right changes,” says Brazil.

While security devices, firewalls in particular, are made of a series of rules which determine the flow of traffic in an enterprise, the Policy Optimizer module transforms security infrastructure management by automating the change review process—from rule analysis to policy modification, as well as recertification and documentation. “It enables organizations to stay accurate, up-to-date, and effective. Rules that are no longer necessary to the business or rules that expose the organization to excessive risks can be quickly identified and remediated,” says Brazil.

Additionally, the Risk Analyzer module evaluates the effectiveness of the security infrastructure by analyzing the exposure of identified system vulnerabilities in the context of network access controls. Using the results of vulnerability scanners and the network and security data from Security Manager, “we create a picture of potential attack paths through existing defenses,” says Brazil. “Effectively, our risk module is a roadmap of all the attack vectors that allows enterprises to identify where they need to focus.”