Tripwire Inc. has broadened the number of network devices it can protect with its data-integrity software for preventing tampering of configuration settings in firewalls, switches and routers. The latest version of the product, Tripwire for Network Devices 2.5, also changes the way the software does reporting and alerting on what it monitors.
Tripwire for Network Devices 2.5, which now runs on Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Solaris servers, can monitor and report any attempts at unauthorized configuration changes made on Nokia's firewall appliance and the NetScreen firewall line, and by next month it will support switches from Xtreme and Foundry. Tripwire has also added a way for its management console to generate data output via XML formats. In addition, Tripwire data-integrity reporting product can now generate its log reports for import into the Crystal Reports and the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
The earlier version of Tripwire for Network Devices was able to monitor unauthorized attempts to change the Cisco PIX firewall, but wasn't able to perform the type of autorestore backup Tripwire does with the Cisco IOS router, for example. With the latest version of the product, customers can opt to manually restore settings in the PIX firewall if that data is found to be lost for any reason after Tripwire performs an integrity check. Sometimes power outages can wipe out equipment settings.
"Customers told us they didn't want autorestore on the firewall due to concerns about its sensitivity as a security application, but they did want an easy way to make the choice to manually restore setting," Tripwire product marketing manager Alex Bender says.
As Tripwire continues to expand the number of switches and security devices on which can do data integrity checks, intrusion detection and autorestoration, it is forging close partnerships with other vendors. In the future, work now being done with Internet Security Systems may pan out into support for intrusion-detection systems by Tripwire as well, Bender says.