NSS Labs Announces 2018 Data Center Intrusion Prevention Systems Group Test Results

Five Products Receive Recommended Rating for both IPv4 and IPv6

| Source: NSS Labs NSS Labs

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NSS Labs, Inc., a global leader and trusted source for independent, fact-based cybersecurity guidance, today announced the results of its Data Center Intrusion Prevention Systems (DCIPS) Group Test. Organizations rely heavily on data centers and IT infrastructure to enable growth, agility, and productivity. Industry analysts predict that the increase in data center traffic, the rise in cyber threats, and the expansion of virtualized data centers will fuel significant growth in the data center security market and estimate that this market will reach $13.38 billion by 2020, with a CAGR of 14.70%.1

An intrusion prevention system (IPS) deployed in the data center (i.e., a data center intrusion prevention system, or DCIPS) is typically subjected to significantly higher traffic levels than an IPS that is deployed at the corporate network perimeter. In a data center deployment, a DCIPS sits inline (as a “a bump in the wire”) inside the data center perimeter, or in the “trusted” zone, to protect servers and applications from remote attacks.

A DCIPS must be capable of performing deep packet inspection in order to protect core assets in the data center from remote attacks. Unlike its next-generation IPS cousin, which protects users from the Internet, the DCIPS protects data center servers and the applications that run on them (i.e., web servers, mail servers, DNS servers, application servers, etc.) from the enterprise intranet and the Internet.

The 2018 DCIPS Group Test results provide insight into tested products including their effectiveness against evasions, performance capabilities and inherent latency, stability and reliability, and total cost of ownership (TCO) over a three-year period.

Key findings from the test:

  • Five products achieved a Recommended rating for both IPv4 and IPv6. 

  • The Security Effectiveness of verified products ranged between 89.0% and 98.7%. 

  • The average Security Effectiveness rating was 84.6%; five products received a Security Effectiveness rating above this average. 

  • TCO per Protected Mbps for verified products ranged between US$3 and US$9, with most tested products costing less than US$6 per protected Mbps. 

  • The average TCO per Protected Mbps (Value) was US$10.76; five products demonstrated value above the average. 


“An enterprise’s most valuable IT assets and intellectual property reside in its corporate data center,” said Jason Brvenik, Chief Technology Officer at NSS Labs. “The goal of the DCIPS is to protect these assets from remote attacks. Because DCIPS are typically deployed inline, there is frequently a trade-off between security effectiveness and performance. The NSS Labs DCIPS Group Test reports provide clarity and insights that help enterprises understand which factors to consider for their use cases.”

The following products were tested:

  • Fortinet FortiGate 3000D v5.4.5 GA Build 3273

  • Fortinet FortiGate 7060E v5.4.5 GA Build 6355

  • Juniper Networks SRX5400E v15.1X49-D100.6

  • McAfee Network Security Platform NS9100 Appliance v9.1.5.3
  • Trend Micro TippingPoint 8400TX v5.0.0.4815
  • Unverified: Cisco

NSS Labs is committed to providing empirical data and objective group test results that enable organizations to make educated decisions about purchasing and optimizing security infrastructure products and services. As with all NSS Labs group tests, there is no fee for participation, and the test methodology is available in the public domain to provide transparency and to help enterprises understand the factors behind test results. Click here for more information about our group test policies.

Click here for more information on this test and the test methodology used, or to purchase the individual Test Reports. Click here to download the Security Value Map™, which provides a graphic comparison of Security Effectiveness and TCO across the tested products.

Additional Resources: 

1.Mordor Intelligence Study, Data Center Security Market - Industry Analysis, Geography, Trends, Forecast - (2017 - 2022)

About NSS Labs, Inc.

NSS Labs, Inc. is recognized globally as the most trusted source for independent, fact-based cybersecurity guidance. Our mission is to advance transparency and accountability within the cybersecurity industry. We empower enterprises by providing them with timely, relevant information on which to base their decisions. Our unmatched foundation in security testing, along with our extensive research and global threat analysis capabilities, provide the basis for our CAWS Continuous Security Validation Platform. CAWS measures the ongoing effectiveness of security controls, providing a real-time score card to help business leaders substantiate their security investments. Businesses can also leverage the threat data delivered by CAWS to strengthen their cyber risk posture and mitigate threats to their operating systems and applications. CISOs, Chief Security Architects, SOC and Threat Analysts, and information security professionals from many of the world's largest and most demanding enterprises rely on trusted insights from NSS Labs. For more information, visit www.nsslabs.com.

Contact:
Tom Resau
W2 Communications
Phone: +1 703-877-8103
tom@w2comm.com