Neon Software Updates LANsurveyor to Address Regulatory Requirements and Pass Security Audits

More Powerful Network Diagramming and Additional Network Monitoring Tools Lead Extensive Enhancement List

LAFAYETTE, CA - Jan. 26, 2005 - Neon Software, Inc. announced today the immediate availability of LANsurveyor version 9.0 for Windows. LANsurveyor 9.0 allows network administrators to properly safeguard and monitor their networks by incorporating network documentation, asset management, network monitoring, and vulnerability management features.

Navigating compliance and regulatory requirements is difficult and time-consuming for businesses. Regulatory acts and guidelines, including Gramm-Leach Bliley, HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, and Basel II, require organizations to restrict access to confidential information and/or enforce security policies across entire organizations. Customers use LANsurveyor to first identify what is on their network and then safeguard and monitor the network.

"Complying with regulations has become a big worry in IT departments-LANsurveyor makes it much easier to comply with those requirements," said Mark Nelson, IS network technician at InCyte Pathology. "During our last on-site inspection, the inspectors were very excited to see how LANsurveyor monitors our network. Several of the inspectors are IS administrators themselves, and they asked where they could get LANsurveyor."

LANsurveyor 9 expands its award-winning features to include better network diagrams, enhanced alerts, additional reporting capabilities and more extensive monitoring capabilities. The new version of LANsurveyor builds upon the success of LANsurveyor 8, which experienced an 875 percent increase in sales in the fourth quarter of 2004 over the year before. LANsurveyor is used by government organizations, school districts, higher education, and small- to medium-sized businesses as well as corporations with thousands of nodes.

Dorian Cougias, president, Network Frontiers and author of Systems Continuity Plan Pro, explained there are three problems most organizations have when securing critical systems: "First an organization must identify all the systems within an organization, then it must determine which of those systems are critical to the operation and finally there must be an understanding of what would be required to get each of those systems running again if there is a disaster or security breach. I recommend LANsurveyor because it helps solve all three problems."

The new version of LANsurveyor is the first offering that integrates with vulnerability assessment tools from Microsoft, Symantec, and Qualys through the Continuous Scan Intrusion Detection System add-on to LANsurveyor. Continuous Scan can now identify stealth computers and log information about possible network threats as well.

Major New Features in LANsurveyor 9.0

Map Levels
Now you can easily switch between three different map views by clicking the appropriate icon.

Show/Hide Nodes
You can selectively show or hide nodes connected to routers or switches.

Find Stealth Nodes
Rogue nodes may not be identifiable using ICMP or other discovery methods. A new feature in Continuous Scan identifies rogue nodes using switch information.

Log Nodes On/Off Network
Continuous Scan now logs information about nodes that connect to the network and disconnect from the network in the Session Log. This information can be used to document network usage, threats, and system availability.

Vulnerability Assessment
Continuous Scan gives the option of authenticating newly found network nodes. It discovers vulnerabilities and ensures compliance of those new nodes using Qualys' QualysGuard and Microsoft's Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA). If the new node fails authentication, Continuous Scan identifies the node as Unauthenticated and takes the actions specified.

Monitor TCP-based Applications
New TCP port monitoring can alert administrators when critical network services such as web and ftp services become unavailable.

Map Link Speed
The lines that connect nodes on the map graphically display the maximum link speed as reported by SNMP queries.

Create New Map Faster
An option on the Create a New Network Map dialog allows you to skip switch port information gathering to speed map drawing.

Save/Export More Information
Administrators can right-click on any group header in the left hand navigation pane (e.g., Network Segments) to save information about that group to the clipboard or Excel. Poll List information can be viewed in Excel and information can be copied from the Instant Info window.

New Alerts
Not only are there more alert options (e.g., launch an application or a file), but also there are new alert limits. Alert limits trigger alerts based on day and time: different personnel can be alerted during the workday versus weeknights and weekends.

SMTP Authentication
LANsurveyor alerts can now be sent through SMTP servers that require authentication.

Availability and Pricing
LANsurveyor 9.0 is now available in the UK from Networks Unlimited at prices closely reflecting the US Retail prices and current US$ exchange rates.

LANsurveyor starts at only £295.00 and is available in three versions that include licenses for Neon Responders, the LANsurveyor client software used for asset management, reporting, and management. All versions of LANsurveyor support mapping networks with unlimited nodes. The Continuous Scan IDS option is £295.00.