At the recent Networld/Interop event in Paris, one of the more interesting new products on show was Net Partitioner, an automatic generator of IP Internet Protocol filters, from a new French start-up SOLsoft SA. NetPartitioner, which is aimed at network and network security adminstrators, generates access lists for all types of router filters, making it easier to manage them from a single console. SOLsoft asserts that most network management products will produce an access list for, at most, only one type of router; and for the most part, they just simulate what would happen to a router if an incident occured. NetPartitioner features a universal language that understands each router filter’s programming language, and a Java interface to simplify the language and add graphics. Currently the product supports Netwall AIX/NT, Cisco Pix, Cisco routers and 3Com routers. Early next year, it will support Livingston, Checkpoint Software Inc’s FW1, and Bay Networks Inc’s NW and TIS. The company also presented the latest version, 3.1, of its Net SecurityMaster firewall, which includes HTTP filtering among its new functions. Net SecurityMaster Version 3.1 includes an HTTP proxy which assures the filtering of HTTP headings and HTML page content. The latter function is, of course, user- configurable from a graphical interface. The product protects against threats from cookies and mobile code such as JavaScript and ActiveX, and implements established company security policies. Supported by the principal Unix vendors, Net SecurityMaster 3.1 is priced from approximately $5,000 for 30 simultaneous sessions. Compagnie des Machines Bull SA, which has signed a commercial distribution agreement with SOLsoft, said the NetMaster/NetPartitioner product is the first European firewall to be certified at the E3 level by the National Centre for Supercomputing Applications.
