TippingPoint Introduces SSL Security Protection Customized for Data Centers Hosting Web Applications

TippingPoint, a leader in network security and a division of 3Com (NASDAQ: COMS), today announced the availability of the TippingPoint^® 1500S SSL Appliance. This new product provides hardware accelerated Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) offloading and bridging to enable proactive inspection of SSL encrypted traffic in next-generation data centers. The TippingPoint 1500S prevents encrypted attacks from compromising Web servers and Web applications and helps enterprises address compliance requirements without impacting network performance or availability.

According to the Top Cyber Risks Report issued by the SANS Institute, TippingPoint and Qualys, Web application vulnerabilities and exploits account for more than 60 percent of the threats to large enterprises and next-generation data centers. In addition, the risk of not protecting critical information stored, processed or transmitted through the data center is pushing enterprises to turn to SSL encryption to ensure the privacy and security of their data and network traffic. The TippingPoint SSL Appliance, together with the TippingPoint IPS Platform, protects the entire attack surface of the data center including networking equipment, server operating systems, enterprise data center applications and Web applications.

Extend Regulatory Compliance Efforts to Encrypted Network Traffic

As organizations work to become compliant with legislation guidelines for the protection of networks and critical data, they must monitor and evaluate the security of their information and maximize the value of their information technology resources. As a key component of the TippingPoint network security solution suite, the TippingPoint 1500S enables multi-gigabit IPS inspection and automated network security policy enforcement of SSL encrypted flows without compromising enterprise or government-regulated compliance efforts.

The TippingPoint 1500S also helps organizations meet the requirement that encrypted traffic used for privacy protection be fully inspected for malicious content. TippingPoint’s extensive reporting capabilities allow institutions to detail network security statistics for confidential data and sensitive internal services. This comprehensive approach to security ensures the integrity of critical information.

"Organizations already face a tremendous burden ensuring the protection of their critical data and uptime of their networks,” said Robert Ayoub, industry manager for Frost & Sullivan North America. "TippingPoint’s approach to protecting attacks in encrypted traffic plays a key role in an organization’s compliance efforts.”

Flexible Deployment Options Help Meet Growing Security Demands and Reduce Security Operating Expenses

In high performance data centers, the TippingPoint 1500S can be deployed with the TippingPoint Core Controller solution to provide scalable, redundant SSL off-loading and SSL bridging capabilities for inspection of encrypted network traffic. Organizations can direct their communications to SSL using secure ciphers with virtually no network bottlenecks or impact on application performance. The TippingPoint Core Controller solution, combined with the 1500S, allows organizations to add capacity as needed creating a "pay as you grow” security model.

In addition, the TippingPoint 1500S can offload intensive SSL decryption and encryption, significantly reducing server processor utilization. Since the 1500S is transparent to the network, it eliminates the need for costly reconfiguration of network elements, clients and servers; and when deployed with the IPS, it helps minimize the risk of server and application compromises from attacks within SSL encrypted flows on the network.

"We’re delivering on a promise we made to our customers to help them protect against emerging attacks in encrypted traffic flows,” said James Collinge, senior director of security product strategy. "With our SSL solution and the TippingPoint N-Platform, we give our customers the tools they need to future proof the security of their next-generation data center.”

Availability and Pricing

The TippingPoint 1500S is available for purchase. Pricing for the TippingPoint 1500S varies by geographic region. For more information on the TippingPoint 1500S, please visit http://www.tippingpoint.com/ssl.

TippingPoint is announcing several new technologies aimed providing comprehensive security in the data center. For further details on these announcements, please visit the TippingPoint news release page.

About TippingPoint and 3Com

TippingPoint is the enterprise security brand of 3Com Corporation (NASDAQ: COMS), a $1.3 billion global enterprise networking solutions provider that sets a new price/performance standard for customers. 3Com has three global brands—H3C, 3Com, and TippingPoint—that offer high-performance networking and security solutions to enterprises large and small. TippingPoint leads the advancement of network security with a modern network security platform and intrusion prevention system (IPS), purpose-built to protect today’s next-generation data center network from evolving, global security threats. TippingPoint helps organizations reduce security operating costs while ensuring maximum business continuity. For more information on TippingPoint, please visit www.tippingpoint.com, or the press center at www.tippingpoint.com/press.

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