Evaluation of security tool

Well, there are several ways to go about doing this. One, you can pay a company to perform "penetration testing" of your network. Two, you can frequently convince security companies to do a free penetration test of your network - many will do it for free because they want your business (managed security, etc.). One company that has been advertising free testing is Qualysis (I'm not associated with them, get no kickbacks, etc - just saw their ad. pointing to this link - http://www.sunbelt-software.com/product.cfm?id=545)Three, you can test it yourself, although unless you have a lot of experience in security you won't really know what to test for, and probably won't end up with an accurate picture of the tool's effectiveness. Four, you wait for hackers to test it for you, and keep your fingers crossed that it works...Although realistically, you need to remember that no tool is 100% effective - the best way to maintain security is through constant viligance (applying security patches, analyzing logs, etc.).

Hope this helps!

Steve Gibson, Gibson Research, will test your network security for free. He can be reached at www.grc.com. He is a recognized pc expert and I have found him to be very helpful.

Good luck

Shridhan

You can download a copy of CyberCop from NAI or ISS (www.iss.net). These are two graphical vulnerability assesment tools that you can use to kinda guage your security level. These are simple to use programs that if used correctly shouldn't blow up your network.

If you want some better but harder to use tools goto www.hackingexposed.com. In the tools section you should find everything you need.

IDS systems are great if configured correctly, but like firewalls they are not asay-all-be-all of security. An IDS system can easily be spoofed by an attacker with some knowledge. Also, there are configuration concerns on a switched enviroment that you may either need help with or will need to call in an IDS consultant.

G/L

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