New Ponemon Institute Study Shows Majority of Next-Generation Firewall Deployments Supplement Existing Security Solutions

COLUMBIA, Md. & TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sourcefire, Inc. (Nasdaq: FIRE), a leader in intelligent cybersecurity solutions, today announced the results of a survey that showed 55 percent of users globally, and 64 percent in the U.S., are leveraging Next-Generation Firewalls to augment their current security deployments, rather than replacing legacy technology. The survey, conducted by Ponemon Institute, a privacy and information security research firm, and sponsored by Sourcefire^®, also highlights the need for NGFWs to prioritize quality of Intrusion Protection Systems (IPS) so that customers can work to achieve comprehensive security without significantly affecting performance.

“In order for these technologies to be effective, they need to include an intelligent, next-generation IPS solution powered by awareness, context, automation and an agile architecture.”

Key findings from the survey:

Respondents ranked IPS as the most important component of the NGFW for data protection
Respondents ranked firewall as the least important feature for protecting their data from unauthorized access
More than 62 percent of current NGFW users surveyed suffer performance degradation when first-generation Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) is deployed as part of the NGFW device, according to the global average
39% of NGFW users are implementing application control in monitoring and reporting mode
25% of these users say application control is deployed only in simple allow/block mode
40% of respondents do not granularly configure application control due to performance concerns

"This survey validates that current NGFW technologies need to evolve in order to be truly context-aware network security platforms," said Marc Solomon, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sourcefire. "In order for these technologies to be effective, they need to include an intelligent, next-generation IPS solution powered by awareness, context, automation and an agile architecture."

“The dramatic increase in sophisticated and targeted attacks, as well as specific compliance demands, are putting even more pressure on organizations to ensure that their data remains secure,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, Chairman and Founder of the Ponemon Institute. “Today’s results indicate the challenges facing current Next-Generation Firewall implementations and the key areas, including evolved IPS and supplemental strategies, where users require increased vendor investment.”

This survey looked at current NGFW implementations in five countries. Ponemon surveyed information security managers, network administrators, CIOs and CISOs at enterprises sized up to 75,000 employees. The respondents represented 15 different industries including financial services, retail, health and pharmaceutical, government, hospitality, education, transportation, and defense and energy.

Sourcefire will conduct two joint webinars with Ponemon Institute to review the full results of the survey, both on November 17, 2011. To register for the webinar at 8 a.m. ET, visit https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/830563806. To register for the webinar at 2 p.m. ET, visit https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/526010694.

For a visual representation of the survey, view the infographic at http://www.sourcefire.com/ngfwsurvey.

About the Ponemon Institute

The Ponemon Institute© is dedicated to advancing responsible information and privacy management practices in business and government. To achieve this objective, the Institute conducts independent research, educates leaders from the private and public sectors, and verifies the privacy and data protection practices of organizations in a variety of industries.

About Sourcefire

Sourcefire, Inc. (Nasdaq:FIRE), a world leader in intelligent cybersecurity solutions, is transforming the way Global 2000 organizations and government agencies manage and minimize network security risks. With solutions from the network to the endpoint, Sourcefire provides customers with Agile Security^TM that is as dynamic as the real world it protects and the attackers it defends against. Trusted for more than 10 years, Sourcefire has been consistently recognized for its innovation and industry leadership with dozens of patents, world-class research, and award-winning technology. Today, the name Sourcefire has grown synonymous with innovation, security intelligence and agile end-to-end security infrastructure. For more information about Sourcefire, please visit http://www.sourcefire.com.

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