Endace reveals cellular wireless security trials

New Zealand intrusion detection and data analytics specialist Endace has revealed that it is running trials with two mobile carriers to address the growing risks of sabotage.

Then revelations followed the company's announcement that it had appointed Melbourne-based Newgen as its first Australian channel partner to help it exploit emerging business opportunities in Australia.

Speaking today from AusCERT 2011 on the Gold Coast, Endace head of Asia Pacific sales Neil Templeman told CRN that Endace especially wanted to target the government and telco sectors, stock exchanges and electronic traders as well as the ASX 100 group of companies.

Templeman said Endace enjoyed strong uptake of its technology amongst telecommunications carriers which had deployed solutions to pre-empt and militate against capacity constraints.

They were now also said to be looking at Endace solutions directed at securing mobile networks.

“There’s not been a huge amount of exposure in that space but there’s plenty of evidence and research on how you would bring down a mobile tower,” Templeman said.

“For service providers such as Optus and Telstra this would have a catastrophic impact.”

Templeman confirmed to CRN that Endace has deployed its technology at two mobile carriers – one in Australia and one in the US – as part of their effort to pre-empt any such threats.

He declined to name the carriers or provide any further details about the specific technology being deployed.

While the demands of the security market meant that Endace had traditionally dealt direct, the company was developing training and other information resources in a bid to quickly ramp up its channel network in Australia.

Newgen provided switch port solutions, had an established customer base and a track record of delivering security services.

Endace is listed on London’s AIM (alternative investment market) and reported a little over $US38 million ($A35.6 million) in revenues for financial year ended March 2011. 

The company said that it had the only bona fide 10Gb/s monitoring and recording solution on the market. Powered by proprietary technology, the company said its systems could deliver 100 percent packet capture at speeds of up to 40Gb/s.

Such high capacity was crucial, Templeman said, for ensuring security within today’s increasingly complex, high-speed IT environments, a key component of which was the ability to trawl network activity.

Recently added virtualisation capabilities would allow systems administrators to have third party applications coexist with Endace applications.