Customers Show Strong Confidence in TippingPoint IPS Solutions

Infonetics study examines buyer experience and real-world deployments of network-based intrusion prevention system market leaders

MALAYSIA – 6 October 2008 – A new study conducted by communications market research firm Infonetics Research and commissioned by intrusion prevention systems (IPS) vendor TippingPoint examines buyer experience with IPS solutions in real world deployments. Investigating how customers purchase, deploy and use solutions from Cisco, IBM-ISS, McAfee, Sourcefire and TippingPoint, the study found that many “IPS” products from key vendors are either not being used in line or have a limited number of filters set to “block” malicious traffic.

Nearly 170 customers – all using and directly managing IPS products – were anonymously surveyed via phone and responded to a variety of questions concerning in-band blocking, filter effectiveness and ease of use. “This survey shows great variability among IPS vendors with regard to IPS security performance and ease of manageability,” according to Jeff Wilson, principal network security analyst at Infonetics Research. “Customers showed strong confidence in TippingPoint’s ability to deliver in-band solutions and block attacks. TippingPoint also led the pack when customers were asked about IPS configuration experience and plans for new purchases.”

Report highlights include:
· Respondents had more than 90 percent of their TippingPoint IPS devices deployed in-band; significantly higher than the other IPS vendors covered in the report. The top reasons stated for not deploying competing vendors’ solutions in-band are reliability, performance and false positive issues.
· Over 70 percent of TippingPoint’s customer-activated filters are set to block traffic, which is higher than all other vendors covered in the report.
· The average number of attacks blocked per month for customers protected by TippingPoint IPS’s was in excess of 235,000 – more than double the number of the next nearest competitor.
· Other questions asked respondents to rate their IPS vendors on ease of use, including IPS turn-up time and ease of filter configuration. According to Wilson, “This area is among the most significant findings in the study, because many IPS deployments get completely hung up at the initial configuration stage, or misconfigured devices fail to block attacks.”
o TippingPoint scored highest overall, with more than 75 percent of customers installing its IPS in under two hours
o In terms of configuring IPS filters, two-thirds of TippingPoint customers responded that the initial set-up required a “light effort.” All other vendors surveyed had less than 25 percent of respondents saying the same.

“With hackers so focused on exploiting applications to steal credit card numbers, intellectual property, and other assets with instant resell value, customers must deploy IPS’s not only at the perimeter but also the data center, the DMZ, and major network segment points,” said Sugiarto Koh, Regional Sales Director for TippingPoint ASEAN. “To do that, IPS’s must meet stringent uptime, performance, coverage, accuracy and ease of management demands.”

“This survey shows that TippingPoint’s customers unequivocally trust the TippingPoint IPS solution to sit in-band in the network with a large number of filters enabled to automatically block attacks without negatively affecting network performance,” Koh added. “Customers are using our platform to prevent intrusions, not merely to sit out-of-band and generate security alerts after the fact.”

To receive an upcoming white paper, register at www.tippingpoint.com/ips_survey.