Sourcefire
Encyclopedia
Sourcefire, Inc develops network security hardware and software. The Sourcefire 3D System is based on Snort
, an open-source intrusion detection engine.
, the creator of Snort
. The company created a commercial version of the popular Snort software: the Sourcefire 3D System, an intrusion prevention solution. Sourcefire states that it is committed to advancing open source technology and continues to maintain close ties with the Snort user community.
Headquartered in Columbia, MD, the company has offices worldwide.
, Sequoia Capital
, Core Capital Partners, Inflection Point Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners and Cross Creek Capital, L.P., a venture fund whose general partner is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wasatch Advisors, Inc.
In 2005, Check Point
attempted to acquire Sourcefire for $225 million, but later withdrew its offer after it became clear US authorities would attempt to block the acquisition.
In March 2007, Sourcefire completed an initial public offering raising $86.3 million. The sole book-running manager of the offering was Morgan Stanley
& Co. Incorporated. Lehman Brothers
Inc. acted as co-lead manager and UBS Securities LLC and Jefferies & Company, Inc. served as co-managers.
The acquisition of ClamAV by Sourcefire was made on August 17, 2007.
In May 2008, Sourcefire rejected an offer of $187 million from security appliance vendor Barracuda Networks
, who had offered to pay US$7.50 per share which amounted to a 13% premium of their then-current stock price.
Sourcefire (Nasdaq: FIRE) revenues for 2008 fiscal year ended December 31, 2008 grew to $75.7 million, an increase of 35% over the previous year’s $55.9 million. Gross profit for 2008 grew 36% to $58.3 million. International revenues were $18.1 million in 2008, up 30% over 2007. At the end of 2008 the company had over $100 million in cash and equivalents.
In 2009 Sourcefire received the 2009 SC “Reader Trust” award for best IDS/IPS solution for Snort, Network World’s “2009 Best of Tests” award for the Sourcefire 3D System, placed in the "Leaders" Quadrant in the Gartner Magic Quadrant
for Intrusion Detection and Prevention System Appliances, and ICSA Labs’ certification for the full line of Sourcefire 3D Sensors.
On 5 January 2011, Sourcefire announced its acquisition of the cloud-based antivirus firm Immunet.
Sourcefire 3D Modules include:
Snort
is an open source network intrusion prevention and detection system utilizing a rule-driven language, which combines the benefits of signature, protocol and anomaly based inspection methods. With help from the Open Source
community, Snort
has developed to be the most widely deployed intrusion detection
and prevention technology worldwide, becoming the de facto standard for the industry.
Immunet is provided in 2 versions i.e. Free and Plus. Immunet uses the cloud virus definitions along with virus definitions from
Clam Antivirus which is an open source (GPL) anti-virus toolkit for UNIX
, designed especially for e-mail scanning on mail gateways. It provides a number of utilities including a flexible and scalable multi-threaded daemon, a command line scanner and advanced tool for automatic database updates. The core of the package is an anti-virus engine available in a form of a shared library.
Snort (software)
Snort is a free and open source network intrusion prevention system and network intrusion detection system , created by Martin Roesch in 1998...
, an open-source intrusion detection engine.
Background
Sourcefire was founded in 2001 by Martin RoeschMartin Roesch
Martin Roesch founded Sourcefire in 2001 and serves as its Chief Technology Officer. A respected authority on intrusion prevention and detection technology and forensics, he is responsible for the technical direction and product development efforts...
, the creator of Snort
Snort (software)
Snort is a free and open source network intrusion prevention system and network intrusion detection system , created by Martin Roesch in 1998...
. The company created a commercial version of the popular Snort software: the Sourcefire 3D System, an intrusion prevention solution. Sourcefire states that it is committed to advancing open source technology and continues to maintain close ties with the Snort user community.
Headquartered in Columbia, MD, the company has offices worldwide.
Financial
The company's initial growth was funded through four separate rounds of financing raising a total of $56.5 million from venture investors such as Sierra Ventures, New Enterprise AssociatesNew Enterprise Associates
New Enterprise Associates is a global investment firm focused on venture capital and growth equity investments. With approximately $11 billion in committed capital, NEA is among the largest venture firms. The firm invests in three broad industry sectors: information technology, healthcare, and...
, Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital is a Californian venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. The Wall Street Journal has called Sequoia Capital "one of the highest-caliber venture firms", and noted that it is "one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture-capital firms"...
, Core Capital Partners, Inflection Point Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners and Cross Creek Capital, L.P., a venture fund whose general partner is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wasatch Advisors, Inc.
In 2005, Check Point
Check Point
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is a global provider of IT security solutions. Best known for its firewall and VPN products, Check Point first pioneered the industry with FireWall-1 and its patented stateful inspection technology...
attempted to acquire Sourcefire for $225 million, but later withdrew its offer after it became clear US authorities would attempt to block the acquisition.
In March 2007, Sourcefire completed an initial public offering raising $86.3 million. The sole book-running manager of the offering was Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
& Co. Incorporated. Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
Inc. acted as co-lead manager and UBS Securities LLC and Jefferies & Company, Inc. served as co-managers.
The acquisition of ClamAV by Sourcefire was made on August 17, 2007.
In May 2008, Sourcefire rejected an offer of $187 million from security appliance vendor Barracuda Networks
Barracuda Networks
Barracuda Networks, Inc. is a privately held company providing security, networking and storage solutions based on appliances and cloud services. The company’s security products include solutions for protection against email, web surfing, web hackers and instant messaging threats such as spam,...
, who had offered to pay US$7.50 per share which amounted to a 13% premium of their then-current stock price.
Sourcefire (Nasdaq: FIRE) revenues for 2008 fiscal year ended December 31, 2008 grew to $75.7 million, an increase of 35% over the previous year’s $55.9 million. Gross profit for 2008 grew 36% to $58.3 million. International revenues were $18.1 million in 2008, up 30% over 2007. At the end of 2008 the company had over $100 million in cash and equivalents.
In 2009 Sourcefire received the 2009 SC “Reader Trust” award for best IDS/IPS solution for Snort, Network World’s “2009 Best of Tests” award for the Sourcefire 3D System, placed in the "Leaders" Quadrant in the Gartner Magic Quadrant
Magic Quadrant
The Gartner Magic Quadrant is a proprietary research tool developed by Gartner Inc., a US based research and advisory firm. According to Gartner, the Magic Quadrant aims to provide a qualitative analysis into a market and its direction, maturity and participants, thus possibly enabling a company...
for Intrusion Detection and Prevention System Appliances, and ICSA Labs’ certification for the full line of Sourcefire 3D Sensors.
On 5 January 2011, Sourcefire announced its acquisition of the cloud-based antivirus firm Immunet.
Products
The Sourcefire 3D System is an intrusion prevention solution that provides a layered security defense. Each 3D System module builds on the capabilities of the previous one to increase an organization’s network protection.Sourcefire 3D Modules include:
- Sourcefire IPS
- Sourcefire RNA (Real-time Network Awareness)
- Sourcefire RUA (Real-time User Awareness)
- The Sourcefire Defense Center (DC)
Snort
Snort (software)
Snort is a free and open source network intrusion prevention system and network intrusion detection system , created by Martin Roesch in 1998...
is an open source network intrusion prevention and detection system utilizing a rule-driven language, which combines the benefits of signature, protocol and anomaly based inspection methods. With help from the Open Source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
community, Snort
Snort (software)
Snort is a free and open source network intrusion prevention system and network intrusion detection system , created by Martin Roesch in 1998...
has developed to be the most widely deployed intrusion detection
Intrusion detection
In Information Security, intrusion detection is the act of detecting actions that attempt to compromise the confidentiality, integrity or availability of a resource. When Intrusion detection takes a preventive measure without direct human intervention, then it becomes an Intrusion-prevention...
and prevention technology worldwide, becoming the de facto standard for the industry.
Immunet is provided in 2 versions i.e. Free and Plus. Immunet uses the cloud virus definitions along with virus definitions from
Clam Antivirus which is an open source (GPL) anti-virus toolkit for UNIX
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
, designed especially for e-mail scanning on mail gateways. It provides a number of utilities including a flexible and scalable multi-threaded daemon, a command line scanner and advanced tool for automatic database updates. The core of the package is an anti-virus engine available in a form of a shared library.
External links
- Intrusion Prevention System
- Intrusion Detection System
- Sourcefire homepage
- Snort homepage
- ClamAV homepage
See also
- Intrusion Detection SystemIntrusion-detection systemAn intrusion detection system is a device or software application that monitors network and/or system activities for malicious activities or policy violations and produces reports to a Management Station. Some systems may attempt to stop an intrusion attempt but this is neither required nor...
(IDS) - Intrusion Prevention System
- Network Intrusion DetectionNetwork intrusion detection systemA Network Intrusion Detection System is an intrusion detection system that tries to detect malicious activity such as denial of service attacks, port scans or even attempts to crack into computers by Network Security Monitoring of network traffic.A NIDS reads all the incoming packets and tries to...
- Real-time Adaptive SecurityReal-time adaptive securityReal-time Adaptive Security is the network security model necessary to accommodate the emergence of multiple perimeters and moving parts on the network, and increasingly advanced threats targeting enterprises...