Seclarity delivers hardwired network security

Truly revolutionary products are rare, but Seclarity’s SiNic product line comes close. By integrating encryption and authentication with its 10/100 NICs, wireless cards, and console products, Seclarity offers an alternative to network-encryption schemes, such as SSH tunneling, that’s completely transparent to the end-user. SiNic not only makes security simple, but it also allows administrators to easily manage the entire network security policy from a single console, including firewall services, encryption, and security auditing.

Each SiNic card can be centrally controlled, but doesn’t need to be in constant contact with the management console. After rules and roles are downloaded to the SiNic, contact is needed only if a user initiates authentication against the SiNic’s local authentication database. Each SiNic automatically generates and maintains its own certificate, making the overall PKI hassle-free.

Central management also relieves some of the headaches of 802.1x, because the SiNic suite supports LDAP directory management and authentication. Admins can enforce security policies based on node, group, or software service — a capability that locks down access both from within and without.

Any product that makes network security easy has the inside track on my list of favorites for 2004, but newcomer SiNic is still a little rough around the edges. For example, compatibility with other security products, especially personal firewalls, can be tricky; and it looks as though the hardware has only been tested for compatibility with Windows. Seclarity plans to address these problems in 2004. While it’s at it, it should also re-evaluate its licensing scheme to include some multitiered support. A flat $10,000 for the management console is simply too much for the small to midsize business market.