Vendors form network security alliance

Cisco, Lucent, Network Associates and Sun Microsystems have formed a Security Research Alliance (SRA) to promote research into network security.

Members of the alliance will meet on a regular basis to establish how they can collaborate and to present the results of their security research projects. They hope this will increase the odds of such projects resulting in marketable products and intend to make joint bids for research contracts from the US government and from other funding sources.

The SRA hopes to attract additional members and intends to communicate information about advanced security research projects to a broader audience.

It believes vendors tend to be reactive rather than active when dealing with security issues, often waiting for publicity about a security leak before posting a patch for it.

As a result, the body plans to organise the annual Security Research Crystal Ball Symposium, the first of which is scheduled for 13 April 1999 in Los Angeles, on the eve of Spring Internet World.

Kevin Ziese, manager of network security research at Cisco, said: 'We think it is very important to look far in the future in network security', citing intrusion detection as one key area which was being looked at.