Security programs causing speed issues for IT

Oct 31, 2006 11:55 AM

According to a survey of IT security buyers and professionals, 70 percent of IT professionals are concerned about performance capabilities of security appliances.

"As security appliances, such as unified threat management platforms, are widely implemented in organizations, there will be issues with maintaining wire speeds," says Victoria Fodale, program manager and analyst for In Stat, a technology research company. "Running more than one application causes a significant reduction in speed. As a result, organizations are now asking for security vendors to accelerate their products in order to maintain performance and productivity while incorporating new applications and capabilities to defend against emerging threats."

According to the survey, conducted by Sensory Networks, which publishes, markets, and distributes applications for network and security equipment, a third of the respondents have more than three security applications running in the network, while 25 percent have at least two applications.

Respondents say that product performance such as content-scanning speed and throughput is affecting their networks. More than 90 percent of the respondents who are using security appliances and firewalls, think unified threat management (UTM) devices need to keep up with the latest applications so that their security products are able to defend against the latest network security viruses and threats.

"Organizations implement a variety of security products. But how effective is a product if it is not fast enough to protect against the newest computer worm or virus?" asks Sab Gosal, vice president of marketing for Sensory Networks. "Security appliances will become quickly outdated if they do not ensure interoperability and maintain performance."

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