IBM Launches Services to Combat Worm and Virus Threats

IBM Launches Services to Combat Worm and Virus Threats

IBM today announced new intrusion detection capabilities to help clients detect, prevent and analyze hacker attacks. IBM researchers have designed a novel intrusion detection tool, code named “Billy Goat,” that not only provides early detection of worm attacks but also greatly reduces the false alarm rate. The tool masquerades as a collection of servers on the network. Actual servers do not communicate with Billy Goat, but criminals who randomly attack servers are likely to stumble over it. As soon as Billy Goat gets attacked it quickly identifies the attacking systems and fences them off — effectively isolating worms and viruses before they can propagate much further.

“Integrity of financial transactions, confidentiality within a virtual enterprise, privacy of customer data and availability of critical infrastructure all depend on strong security mechanisms,” said Peggy Kennelly, vice president of IBM’s On Demand Innovation Services. “IBM Research and Business Consulting Services work together to offer world-class solutions to everyday security threats that make sense for your business, whether you have 100 employees or 100,000.”

Due to the strain on systems administrators during attacks, the most important property of any intrusion detection system is that it is free from the high rate of false alarms produced by many other sensors. The Billy Goat system minimizes false alarms through the use of a novel architecture that combines an extensive view of the network, spoofed service interaction with potential attackers, and a clear focus on detecting automated attacks.

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