Andrew Hay

I’m Sorry I Called Your Baby Ugly … But It Is

Andrew Hay — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:21:38 +0000

I like to use technology that is intuitive, solves a problem, and is a “fit” for me. On the other hand, I also like technology that is aesthetically pleasing. Some vendors have managed to deliver on my requirements, which is why I own several Apple products, buy the same brand of suit, and rarely drink domestic beer. But when it comes to security products — namely the user interface (UI) of security monitoring products — I am often disappointed and left wanting.

I speak to numerous vendors across different product sectors on a daily basis, so sometimes my disappointment in their UIs squeaks past my gritted teeth. I do my best to provide constructive criticism based on what I hear from customers, friends, and similar vendors, but the receiving vendor often takes offense. I understand. I called its “baby” ugly. Unlike an ugly baby whose appearance is usually beyond the control of its parents, security UIs can be made better.

Check out my post at the Dark Reading Security Monitoring Tech Center.

No pushing water uphill with Waterfall’s Unidirectional Security Gateway

The 451 Group - search results — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:57:14 +0000

Rosh HaAyin, Israel-based Waterfall Security Solutions provides Unidirectional Security Gateways (USGs) and data diodes for process control systems, SCADA systems, remote monitoring and segregated networks. Although playing in a somewhat niche market space, the fact that no one can yet claim dominance proves that opportunities abound for hungry companies with capable products.

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Palo Alto Networks appoints Steffan Tomlinson as CFO

The 451 Group - search results — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:26:20 +0000

Santa Clara, California-based Palo Alto Networks has appointed Steffan Tomlinson as its newest CFO. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks, Tomlinson served as CFO of Arista Networks, following a stint as partner and chief administration officer of Silver Lake Kraftwerk at Silver Lake Partners and Silver Lake Kraftwerk Fund. From 2005 to 2011, Tomlinson served as CFO of Aruba Networks, and was instrumental in its IPO and helping the company scale to facilitate growth. From 2000 to 2005, he was the first nonfounder employee and, ultimately, CFO of Peribit Networks, which was later acquired by Juniper Networks for $337m. Michael Lehman, Palo Alto Networks CFO since April 2010, will assist during the transition.

A journey through the Lookingglass brings additional funding

The 451 Group - search results — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:07:33 +0000

Founded in 2006, Baltimore, Maryland-based Lookingglass Cyber Solutions is one of the newest kids on the cyber security-visibility block. The company's flagship product, ScoutVision, aims to protect against targeted attacks by gathering, correlating and analyzing threat information from within a customer's network, supply chain and other sources of Internet-based threat intelligence.

The company also recently announced its first funding round. Alsop Louie Partners, an early-stage technology venture firm based in San Francisco, is leading its $5m series A funding – which the company states will be used to fuel marketing, sales and deployment initiatives. Vital Financial, a private equity and capital investment firm based in Bethesda, Maryland, is also participating.

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Where’s My ‘Minority Report’ Dashboard?

Andrew Hay — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:26:04 +0000

Why haven’t user interfaces for security products taken advantage of human movement technologies? Minority Report was released in 2002 — that’s 10 years ago for those of you counting at home. Even with the invention of Nintendo’s Wii controller in 2006 and Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect controller in 2010 (not to mention the subsequent release of Microsoft’s Kinect SDK), a commercial Minority Report-like interface has yet to be commercially released.

Check out my post at the Dark Reading Security Monitoring Tech Center.

Sumo Logic emerges from stealth with fat pockets

The 451 Group - search results — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:07:48 +0000

Mountain View, California-based Sumo Logic has finally emerged from a lengthy stealth mode with its cloud log management and analytics product, in addition to a new round of funding. The company has completed a $15m series B round led by Sutter Hill Ventures, with contributions from founding investors Greylock Partners and angel investor Shlomo Kramer. This latest cash infusion brings Sumo Logic's total funding to $20.5m.

Trident, Adara and Neotec deposit more funds into the AlienVault

The 451 Group - search results — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:57:50 +0000

Hot on the heels of announcing its new management team, Sunnyvale, California-based AlienVault has announced an $8m series B financing round, led by Trident Capital. Existing investors Adara Venture Partners and Neotec both contributed to the round, bringing the startup's total funding to over $12m. As part of the series B round, Trident managing director Alberto Yepez and Trident principal Michael Biggee will be joining the startup's board of directors. The team said that it will be using its new infusion of capital to expand its sales and marketing initiatives, as well as its research and development, to meet the growing demand for unified security management.

HBGary rebounds from data disclosure, releases updated products and integrations

The 451 Group - search results — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:04:19 +0000

HBGary, rising from the ashes of an unfortunate and high-profile attack from the hacker collective known as Anonymous and, subsequently, one from the security community at large, has released version 1.5 of its Inoculator advanced threat detection product. The Sacramento, California-based company boasts that the latest version of Inoculator can scan the enterprise multiple times a day for known threats such as zero-day compromises, intrusion artifacts such as registry keys and families of other advanced threats. HBGary also recently announced integration with HP ArcSight to contribute its threat intelligence to the venerable SIEM.

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Solera raises $20m in latest round, looks to expand globally

The 451 Group - search results — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:42:23 +0000

Salt Lake City, Utah-based network security analytics vendor Solera Networks recently announced that it has secured $20m in series D financing led by Intel Capital. Intel Capital is joined by existing investors Allegis Capital, Signal Peak Ventures and Trident Capital. The new funds will help support the company's rapid growth by further expanding global sales, marketing and product development initiatives. This latest round of funding brings the company's total funding to $51m.

Sourcefire’s FireAMP enterprise malware-protection product hits the street

The 451 Group - search results — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:06:00 +0000

Columbia, Maryland-based Sourcefire has announced the release of its new FireAMP product. It is aimed at providing a malware-discovery and -analysis offering that analyzes and blocks malware by utilizing technology picked up from its January 2011 Immunet acquisition. Sourcefire claims that FireAMP is the latest fulfillment of its Agile Security vision for context-aware, adaptive and automated security – complementing the company's Next-Generation IPS, Next-Generation Firewall, centralized management, virtual security, SSL inspection and network-administrator-focused IPSx products.

(Read the full report here - subscription required)