IBM Leads Security Renaissance at the RSA Conference

Thomas Noonan: IBM Has Turned Security On-Demand Into a Reality

Thomas Noonan, general manager of IBM's Internet Security Systems (ISS) division, today challenged his peers at the RSA Conference to embrace a period of renaissance in the security sector. In a keynote address entitled, "Security-on-Demand: From Promise to Reality," Noonan called for companies to join IBM in transforming security from a burden to customers into a true business asset.

"IBM ISS studies show that the average enterprise has over 32 security vendors," said Noonan. "The current scheme has become synonymous with silos, built without regard to the complex world that we live in. It is destined to become exponentially more complex and less effective with the increased use of new technologies like mobile devices and server virtualization. Security requires a continuous, integrated source of intelligence that can never be fully realized if we are waiting on our 32 vendors to ship the next group of reactive patches when our network is under siege every day."

Noonan sees IBM at the heart of the security renaissance, striving to simplify security for customers and bring the security on-demand model from promise to reality. With IBM, security capabilities will be designed to operate together in one seamless, integrated platform, linked with real-time intelligence and enabled with on-demand services. The platform will be created with extensibility, adaptability and preemptive security at the forefront, aimed at reducing the crippling complexity of security and allowing customers to return attention to core business initiatives.

"When you provide a security platform that offers choice and control, in terms of technology and service delivery, and that automatically combats whole classes of threats without the need for constant signature updates, security becomes a solution instead of a problem," Noonan explained. "ISS has championed this vision since our inception in 1994, and with IBM, we now have the scope, scale and resources to give it even greater life."

With IBM, customers have access to a comprehensive solution intended to both "keep the bad guys out," which requires preemptive protection at every layer of the enterprise, and "let the good guys in" with identity-enabled access management that can adapt to a world with disappearing perimeters.

"I believe our industry is at a turning point," said Noonan. "Security is finally recognized by most companies to be a crucial aspect of business. This realization affords us the opportunity to bring about creative, innovative solutions that entice companies to embrace security as a valuable solution to business problems rather than accept it as a necessary evil" - IBM.