Platform Logic Wraps OS, Apps With Security Protections
October 23, 2003

AppFire Suite 2.0 from Platform Logic is host intrusion prevention software designed to proactively protect operating systems and applications from known and unknown viruses, worms and unauthorized network intrusions never seen before.

The AppFire product detects commands that are outside an application's usual behavior and prevents the commands from being executed. The patent-pending technology incorporated in the tool is called behavior-based control for individual operating system and application functions.

The suite covers each OS function and application with a wrapper that monitors program behavior on a server or workstation, to prevent inappropriate behavior from executing. The product runs on a range of Windows and Unix OS platforms.

Developed by a team of security experts, the product introduces a Modular Policy Architecture for controlling the level of OS and application security in a complex, enterprise environment. The suite consists of four components: the Management Server, Enterprise Manager for systems administrators, Policy Authoring Environment for security specialists, and the Behavior Control Agent.

"We were founded to address the intrusion prevention market," says TJ Tajalli, president and CEO. "Vulnerabilities in the operating system and applications can cause a company and half the Internet to come down. If an attack finds a flaw in either one, they can take over the desktop machine or a server."

AppFire Suite 2.0 essentially blocks an attacker from executing any OS or application function they are not authorized to perform. The tricky part of configuring the product is to balance the OS shell between being too tight, and perhaps preventing a needed function from operating, and being too loose, exposing the company to risk. Security managers who apply policies to agents need to adjust them based on experience.

The product is available immediately and can be obtained for a 15-day evaluation period. AppFire Suite 2.0 is priced at $25,000 for 10 server agents. For 25 server agents and 200 workstations, customers would pay in the $60,000 to $75,000 range. The company sells a perpetual software license and charges an annual maintenance fee.