Nearly 100 Hackers Fail to Crack WireX Immunix Server; WireX Software Staves Off Toughest...

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DefCon

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 2002

WireX, a developer of unique security technologies for large server computers, captured 2nd place in the `Capture the Flag' games held recently at the DefCon conference in Las

WireX's Immunix server was among eight systems competing in the contest, which was won by a system that had been hardened by an ad hoc group. The Immunix server was never compromised by the nearly one hundred hackers and security experts who were playing in the latest round of the hacking contest.

DefCon is the largest Internet security gathering geared towards hackers, programmers, civil liberty and privacy advocates, reporters, and anyone interested in seeing what's going on in the computer underground today. WireX participated in DefCon to test Immunix technologies against the toughest real-world attacks. The Capture the Flag game provided a ruthlessly fair, no-holds-barred contest.

"They didn't get to the root, but they did manage to DoS us," said Dr. Crispin Cowan, WireX's chief researcher. That is, the break-in didn't get all the way to the core of the Immunix server, but a denial-of-service (DoS) attack overwhelmed it with traffic. Each team earned points during the event by keeping its server able to answer any data queries sent by the administrators. Teams also scored points if they took control of another server.

Dr. Cowan's team success was due to Immunix, the first proactive host security solution for Linux. Immunix secures servers right at the source -- operating systems, applications and critical system resources -- proactively identifying and preventing attacks via known vulnerabilities as well as program holes that have yet to be discovered. Immunix works by providing protection from entire classes of vulnerabilities such as buffer overflow, race conditions and format bugs, in all programs on the server, not just a single incident in a single program. Further, Immunix contains vulnerabilities to a small subset of the server so that a bug in one program cannot be exploited to gain root access to the server.

About WireX

Founded in 1998, WireX provides cost effective, high performance server software solutions that are easy to manage and hard to compromise. WireX solutions allow organizations from small businesses to large enterprises to deploy a secure server solution in minutes, without requiring expensive system administration expertise. The intuitive WireX Secure Server Manager (SSM) software interface allows users to perform server functions traditionally handled by more complex and expensive general-purpose servers, and gives users more control of their servers from anywhere on the web at any time -- all with point-and-click simplicity.

WireX is the developer of Immunix security technology for Linux. Immunix technology safeguards against network attacks, protecting the server against entire classes of penetration vulnerabilities and providing proactive defense against security holes, reducing the urgency of costly security patches. More information is available on the company's web site at www.WireX.com.

WireX, Immunix and Secure Sever Manager are trademarks of WireX Communications, Inc.