I have been thinking about the search engines the other day, then I found that Net/FSE is the first commercial search engine for enterprise network data to focus on security incident response by harnessing the power of netflow security. This will be very useful for the company to know. Here is the press release.

Packet Analytics Launches Net/FSE, Free Downloadable
Network Forensic Search Engine

Browser-Based Workflow Solution Provides Security Analysts with Real-Time Forensic and
Analysis of Terabytes of NetFlow Data

Santa Fe, N.M. – January 22, 2008 – Packet Analytics, a network security tools company today launched Net/FSE, the Network Forensic Search Engine. Net/FSE is the first commercial search engine for enterprise network data to focus on security incident response by harnessing the power of NetFlow data. It is designed to exploit the forensic potential of NetFlow data to dig deep into network alerts.

A browser-based workflow tool for security analysts, Net/FSE employs proprietary search technology licensed exclusively from Los Alamos National Laboratory where it was developed and battle tested for five years. Net/FSE allows network security analysts to respond rapidly to network alerts and anomalies by analyzing terabytes of NetFlow router data in real-time through a highly scalable search engine. A commonly overlooked network data resource because of its voluminous nature and predominate use in IT engineering operations, NetFlow data can be a powerful source of forensic information for security analysis.

“We purchased and deployed Net/FSE at Los Alamos National Bank to give us visibility into our NetFlow router data in addition to our other network data,” said David McCullough, Chief Technical Officer for Los Alamos National Bank. “Before Net/FSE when we needed to perform a network security investigation it was taking us as much as day to answer one investigative question. Now, we’re able to answer that same question in a matter of minutes.”

“Our research consistently indicates that flow data, including NetFlow, will be increasingly leveraged to improve network security and operations,” said Derek E. Brink, vice president and research director for IT Security, Aberdeen Group. “Overall, organizations surveyed indicate about 90% year-over-year growth in deployment of solutions that leverage network flow data, based on planned use in the next 12 months versus current use.”

Typically, when a network security alert is generated in an enterprise firewall, intrusion detection system or security information management system the security analysts do not have access to the necessary context that allows them to definitively and effectively respond to the event. Net/FSE allows analysts to collect and quickly search all of their NetFlow and other network data to determine the impact of the alert and effectively respond.

“Security breaches can happen to any company. It’s not a matter of if, but when they will occur,” said Andy Alsop, CEO of Packet Analytics. “Net/FSE was built by security analysts for security analysts so that enterprises have access to advanced search capabilities over terabytes of NetFlow router data. Our product will save analysts a significant amount of time in their routine alert investigations, making them more efficient and dramatically decreasing response time.”

Net/FSE requires little or no administration and can be quickly installed by the customer on commodity servers running a Linux operating system. Deployed as a browser-based solution, analysts can search through terabytes of data from anywhere on the network.

Net/FSE is available as a free download with full functionality at www.packetanalytics.com.

About Packet Analytics

Packet Analytics provides tools and solutions to enterprises that dramatically increase the security of their network operations by mitigating the effects of security breaches. The company’s Network Forensic Search Engine or Net/FSE is the first commercial security search engine for NetFlow log data and is based on technology licensed exclusively from Los Alamos National Laboratory. Using proprietary distributed search algorithms, Net/FSE dramatically reduces exposure to significant business risk by enabling security specialists to quickly identify the extent of a security breach. The company is based in Santa Fe, N.M. Visit www.packetanalytics.com for more information.