WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS (09/08/2000) - Security startup Qiave Technologies Corp. (pronounced Key-AH-vey) next week makes its debut with software designed to prevent hackers from tampering with user and account files even if they break into a server operating system.
The security software will also protect companies from having data link and binary libraries, registry keys and configuration files violated in a break-in.
At the same time, Qiave's QSecure product can put controls on the changes system administrators are allowed to make to server software, says Jack Danahy, president and CEO of the start-up, which he founded after departing GTE, where he was managing director of the global network infrastructure.
"You add QSecure to your box, and it's protected against changes," Danahy says. "The machine has to know if it is to be administered or not." For instance, if certain changes are not scheduled, it won't let them be done.
QSecure is available for Windows NT 4.0, with a version for Windows 2000 expected next month and one for Solaris in January. QSecure includes server software and management console software.
"It does work to protect registries and file systems," says Mark Heroux, lead information security engineer at the Bedford, Mass., firm Mitre, which has been evaluating the software. "It's very easy to deploy, and it enforces use of strong passwords for management. But everyday computer users won't notice any difference when the Qiave software is installed on their server."
John Pescatore, security analyst at Gartner Group, compares QSecure with the NT- and Solaris-based security software called Pitbull from Argus Systems and ClickNet's entercept software. "A product like Pitbull, though, touches more of the [operating system] than QSecure, which operates more at the driver level," he notes.
QSecure costs US$1,295 per server, $4,950 for three servers and $15,000 for 10.
Qiave: www.qiave.com.