Cisco launches Hadoop-based security tool to defend networks from cyber attacks

Cisco has unveiled a Managed Threat Defense service that utilises an analytics approach based on on-premise Hadoop infrastructure to monitor network traffic. The firm said this will help better protect corporate networks against attacks from malware and intruders trying to steal sensitive data.

The networking giant said that Managed Threat Defense uses Hadoop 2.0 to apply predictive analytics to network traffic in order to create a unique profile of the network and monitor it against up-to-date intelligence from Cisco and other customers, and employs heuristics designed to spot anomalous traffic patterns.

This approach, combined with traditional methods, enables the platform to defend against known intrusions, zero-day attacks and advanced persistent threats, Cisco said.

Writing on the Cisco security blog, the firm's vice president of Security Solutions Bryan Palma said that organisations are struggling with the challenges of a dynamic threat landscape and fragmentation of security solutions, and that the new platform was designed to address these issues.

"You do not have to worry about assessing the best technology options, retaining the right number of security experts, and constantly staying current with the changing threat landscape. Instead, you can partner with a trusted advisor in a simple cost-effective way. Today we are pleased to introduce Cisco Managed Threat Defense Service, which allows the power of a global operation to watch out for you," he said.

Managed Threat Defense is an on-premise solution, composed of hardware, software, and analytics. This includes Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP), Sourcefire FirePOWER, and Cisco Cloud Web Security, as well as Hadoop analytics.

The service is currently available in North America and the Asia Pacific region directly from Cisco or its reseller partners. Cisco had not responded to requests regarding European availability at the time of writing.

The launch of the tool comes on the same day Verizon unveiled its annual threat report, which found that over the last ten years 92 percent of all incidents can be attributed to nine basic attack vectors.

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• Topics
• Security
• Networks
• Cisco
• Hadoop
• malware