SecureWave Raises EUR 3M in Series B Financing Round: "SecureWave's Sanctuary product suite turns blacklisting and the constant updating of signatures on its head, by focusing on those devices and applications allowed on the network. Administrators can easily manage a centralized list of allowed devices and executables - everything else is denied, period. The whitelisting approach shelters IT staffs from the Herculean task of maintaining blacklists and other frantic, reactionary approaches to managing device use policies." —SecureWave

Security deals get funded: "[A] couple of security companies got funded this week

Link: Solidcore adds $20M in funding - 2005-02-15 - Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.

Link: TriCipher adds $10.1M in Funding - 2005-02-15"—Jeff Nolan (SAP Ventures)

Metavize: "

interesting approach, virtualize the server rack in software (actually now that I think about it, this is a logical approach). They get credit for doing a live threat demo by downloading a genuine virus to their laptop... and having the download aborted by the software.

spamguard, web control, packet attacks, and rogue protocol control in less than 6 minutes... impressive. And for a bonus they threw in a spyware blocker.

http://www.metavize.com/

"—Jeff Nolan (SAP Ventures)

McAffee wants your WiFi secure: "We'll refrain from the typical jokes about anti-virus software companies writing and releasing all the big viruses because this time McAffee seems to have its heart in the right place. You can download their new free WiFiScan app as a plugin for IE (yes, we'll go on record as saying there are a lot of unaware Windows users who probably could use something like this) which will do things like detect 'evil twin' networks and analyze local security settings. It's a good start, (we can apparently expect a stand-alone version called McAfee Wi-Fi Security this fall) but we'll be much happier when we see someone release an easy-to-use encrypted
tunnelling/VPN solution for wireless roaming. Only then will we feel at all secure taking our machines onto those nasty, scary foreign networks. [Via The Wireless Weblog]"—Engadget

Cisco Evolving Into A Security Company: "ChipGuy writes 'Om Malik has an opinion piece stating his opinion that Cisco Systems is slowly becoming a security company, a move which may prove problematic for traditional security vendors like Symantec. Cisco has bought its way into the market, worried about the security moves of its main rival, Juniper Networks. The company expects to make major announcements at the RSA Conference later this week. '"—Slashdot

HP's Virus Throttle Aims to Halt Worms' Spread: "By applying the principle of least privilege when assigning rights to applications, the software prevents programs from accessing files they don't need—which in turn stops attackers from manipulating apps."—eWEEK

All Eyes Turn to Microsoft at RSA Security Powwow: "Microsoft officials remain tight-lipped on security product plans, but there's no shortage of speculation ahead of next week's RSA Conference."—eWEEK

All Eyes Turn to Microsoft at RSA Security Powwow: "Microsoft officials remain tight-lipped on security product plans, but there's no shortage of speculation ahead of next week's RSA Conference."—eWEEK

Antispyware Adoption In 2005: "In January 2005, Forrester surveyed 200 technology decision-makers about their approach to IT security. We learned that although respondents ranked spyware fourth out of a list of nine possible threats to the organization, 80% of companies currently use antispyware tools. Many firms currently use free tools like Lavasoft's Ad-Aware. Sixty-five percent of companies will purchase or upgrade their antispyware software this year, making antispyware tools the most-purchased security technology in 2005. However, 39% of respondents were not able to estimate how many systems in their organization were infected with spyware."—Forrester

InfoWorld: Symantec hit by large-scale flaw: "Symantec has issued patches to fix a 'high impact' security hole that affects almost every product it currently sells." —InfoWorld

McAfee Girds For Microsoft Competition: "Hodges said he knows what he's up against now that Microsoft is purchasing a competitor. 'We know that they will be a significant force. We don't believe that they are an irresistible force,' he added." —internetnews.com

"We know that it is a significant iceberg," said the captain of the Titanic, "but we don't believe that it is an irresistible iceberg."

Third buy's a charm for Microsoft?: "Purchase of Sybari Software could position Microsoft as a player in the corporate security market--if it gets its product strategy right."—News.com

Webroot latches on to $108 million in VC funding: "The antispyware-applications maker receives a whopping nine-figure round of funding--another sign of growing interest in security investments."—News.com

A cross-blog twofer: security and bubble. Nicely done.

BOFH: When desk lamps attack:
U: 'Yeah, I was just ringing because I can't install an application on my machine.'
O: 'Really?' I ask. 'What application?'
U: 'Oh that's not important, but what is important is that I don't seem to have Administrator access to my machine.'
O: 'Yes, that's right, no-one does. Well, that's not completely true, myself and my assistant do, and the support staff have 'Power User' access.'
U: 'But it's my machine!'
O: 'No, it's the Company's machine - you're just using it.'
U: 'The company bought the machine for me!'
O: 'For you to USE, yes. Like your desk.'
—The Register