Cisco Adds Advanced Malware Protection to its Portfolio

Cisco (News - Alert) has added an advanced malware protection (AMP) solution to its content security portfolio of products, including Web and email security appliances and cloud Web security services. AMP was originally developed by Sourcefire.

This initiative is expected to empower customers with comprehensive malware-defeating capabilities such as detection and blocking, continuous analysis and retrospective remediation of advanced threats.

The methodology followed by AMP does not rely on malware signatures—a process that consumes too much time considering each new malware sample. Rather, AMP leverages a combination of file reputation, file sandboxing, and retrospective file analysis to proactively deal with malware and mitigate it.

The integration between Cisco and Sourcefire will deliver AMP services for over 60 million enterprise and commercial users who currently use Cisco content security solutions.

By leveraging cloud security intelligence networks of both Cisco and Sourcefire, the AMP solution will be able to evolve and provide continuous monitoring and analysis, covering the extended network and during the full attack comprising before, during and after scenarios.

Cisco Web and email security solutions, as well as cognitive threat analytics, are just a few of the malware technologies featured in Cisco’s cloud Web security solution. This helps Cisco to deliver threat-centric security solutions by expanding attack vector coverage. Cisco can now eliminate a range of attack vectors and protect the extended network effectively, according to officials.

Also the file reputation feature analyzes file payloads when they traverse the network. Users are now able to provide insights that can automatically block malicious files. Then administrator-defined policies based on Cisco Web or E-mail Security user interface and policy reporting frameworks come into play.

In addition to protecting networks, Cisco is keen on going green. The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Cisco with the Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management-Goal Achievement award. Cisco has successfully met its greenhouse gas reduction goal at its campus through renewable energy purchases, upgrading building energy efficiency, and reducing business travel.