Interoute Barometer

23Jul09

Interoute launches free Internet Barometer to alert businesses to danger on the Internet – 26 June 09

Real-time internet attack data provides organisations with vital insight into attack vectors

London, 26th June 2009 – Interoute, owner operator of Europe’s largest next-generation network, today launched a free internet security barometer that provides organisations with daily insight into malicious activity on the internet. The Internet Barometer collects data from numerous high performance sensors built into the core of the European Internet, logging the source, destination and type of malicious activity. Going beyond basic statistical data, Interoute is providing a valuable insight into security threats to help organisations identify and fend off the perpetrators of malicious threats and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

Rather than relying on traditional methods of collecting data from firewalls and ADSL routers, Interoute analyses traffic on its 57,000 km fibre optic network. Starting with the de facto standard for vulnerability signatures, Interoute enriches the self calibrating ‘blacklist’ with custom DDoS attack detection. This information is gathered and placed into a balanced score-card for attack weighting. High and medium ranked security alerts are then mapped against the geographic location of the origin and destination of the attacks.

“The barometer is a free service that will allow any user or system administrator to review real attack data to help prevent security threats,” said Mark Osborne Chief Information Security Officer at Interoute. “Many companies reliant on the internet have been vulnerable to blackmailers threatening to compromise their business by taking them offline through DDoS attacks. Those who couldn’t afford the price tag were left exposed because they didn’t know where the threats were coming from. The Interoute Internet barometer will allow IT departments and system administrators to regain control.”

Two years in development, the system has been built with specialist data feeds to guarantee a high degree of accuracy. More significantly, it is also able to anonymise data, so that it can be made available real-time to the public without risk of infringing data protection rights.

Bob Tarzey, Analyst and Director, Quocirca: “Anything that helps businesses protect themselves from online threats is a good thing; the Interoute Internet Barometer monitors threats from within the Internet rather than at its edge, which means they should be detected at an early stage. By providing this free service, Interoute will help companies keep unwanted traffic under control, and ensure its own network performs better.”

Interoute is also offering business access to a free widget, which updates according to the day’s threat level. The Interoute Internet Barometer is currently a beta version. Interoute’s security team will be enhancing the system to provide historical trends and diagnostic tools.

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