He's Back!

Hey All!

I hope everyone had a good holiday. I've been so busy that I've lost track of keeping up-to-date with this. But I see there's still plenty of interest... this site still receives over 100 hits a day. So what's been new an exciting in the world of Cisco security? Let's take a look:

+ CS-MARS Updated to 4.2.3 (2403) - This latest update updates vendor signatures along with enhancements to SSL/SSH fingerprint change detection. See the release notes on cisco.com here.

+ IPS 6.0 Released - Definitely some big news for IPS 4200-series & IDSM-2 sensors users. IPS 6.0 has been release for download for users with an IPS Services contract. IPS 6.0 includes many enhancements that are outlined below (right from cisco.com). I'd like to note that users should continue to wait on upgrading to IPS 6.0 until it is fully integrated with existing management products. As of now CS-MARS is not updated to support the new 6.0 fields and current IPS MC (centralized IPS management console provided by CSM or CiscoWorks VMS) cannot be used to manage 6.0 senors. No need to rush... as tempted as we all are:


+ Cisco Security Manager to Replace CiscoWorks VMS - In what I believe is a great move (but may be frowned on by others), VMS (VPN Management System) is to be replaced with the newest security device management product from Cisco, Cisco Security Manager (CSM). I've worked on both and can say from a management standpoint this change is excellent. CSM includes CSM client to manage PIX and ASA devices centrally, IPS MC to manage all IPS sensors and push updates out from a central repository (really a terrific product), and Resource Manager Essentials. I plan to give a tour of each of the CSM product in an upcoming update to show what it has to offer. It has come under scrutiny as it does not include Security Monitor. Instead, CSM integrates directly with CS-MARS so incident detection can include policy lookups to the CSM server.

I hope this update is proof that I'm still alive and keeping busy. I have enjoyed the wonderful comments everyone has left and am impressed with the talent shared by everyone in the discussions.

-Mike