eEye Digital Security’s Blink Endpoint Vulnerability Prevention Solution Proactively Protects from WMF Exploit
ALISO VIEJO, Calif., January 5, 2005 – eEye Digital Security®, a leading developer of network security and vulnerability management software solutions, as well as the industry’s foremost contributor to security research and education, proactively protects users from the potential exploitation of a zero-day flaw in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows® with its Blink® Endpoint Vulnerability Prevention solution, allowing IT departments to deploy software patches according to regularly scheduled maintenance cycles. eEye’s research team has confirmed that Blink protects against the critical Windows Metafile flaw without Microsoft’s recently released patch and without requiring invasive firewalling, which could limit system functionality. Blink does not require shutting down services or applications as a means of protection, thus allowing businesses to continue to function normally. The result is 100 percent protection, with zero downtime or impact to operations.
This serious zero-day vulnerability affects all versions of Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. Exploitable via web surfing, email and instant messaging, several versions of the exploit are already in the wild and are actively being used maliciously.
“This WMF vulnerability – and its dozens of variants – is a great example of a critical zero-day attack that signature-based intrusion prevention solutions cannot protect against,” said Marc Maiffret, eEye’s co-founder and chief hacking officer. “Although Microsoft has recently released a patch to address this critical flaw, IT still has to deal with the massive disruption and resource drain required in order to immediately address this issue. This is just another reason why we continue to encourage network administrators to deploy Blink, or other non-signature-based HIPS solutions to proactively protect their networks. By doing so, they can protect their infrastructure against new classes of WMF flaws while saving their patching resources for monthly maintenance cycles.”
Unlike signature-based solutions, such as anti-virus or behavior-based solutions, current Blink customers aren’t required to do anything to realize protection from this flaw, as no updates or policy changes are required. For those interested in protecting corporate systems with Blink, an evaluation version is available for download on eEye’s website: http://www.eEye.com/Blink.
Over the last five years, eEye has been recognized by industry experts as the preeminent organization in the discovery of the most critical vulnerabilities in various platforms and applications, including the vulnerabilities subsequently leveraged by the Sasser, Witty, Code Red and Sapphire worms, as well as the Microsoft ASN vulnerability and hundreds of other important discoveries. This expertise gives eEye a distinct advantage in designing services and software solutions for the assessment, remediation and prevention of vulnerabilities and the attacks that leverage them.
About Blink® Endpoint Vulnerability Prevention
Designed to be implemented on individual assets such as servers, PCs and laptops, Blink is the first endpoint product to combine multiple layers of security technologies to protect enterprises from zero-day attacks that leverage yet unknown vulnerabilities within enterprise networks. This comprehensive security solution allows organizations to defer patching vulnerable machines until regularly scheduled maintenance cycles, thereby saving millions of dollars in business disruption and the associated IT resource drain caused by “panic” patching. Additionally, Blink eliminates the problem of so-called “socially engineered” security threats in which hackers trick individuals into downloading malware or otherwise making their own machines vulnerable to attack. As a result, Blink uniquely protects assets from vulnerabilities, as opposed to only thwarting attacks.
eEye’s integrated family of vulnerability management solutions helps IT and security professionals confidently safeguard their valuable digital assets. Working in conjunction with popular tools such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems, eEye’s product portfolio also includes Retina® Network Security Scanner, REMâ„? Security Management Console, Iris® Network Traffic Analyzer and SecureIISâ„? Web Server Protection.
About eEye Digital Security
eEye Digital Security is a leading developer of network security software, and the foremost contributor to security research and education. eEye’s award-winning software products provide a complete vulnerability management solution that addresses the full lifecycle of security threats: before, during and after attacks. eEye’s customers, Citigroup and the U.S. Department of Defense, represent the largest deployments of vulnerability assessment and prevention technology in the private and public sector. eEye protects the networks and digital assets of more than 8,500 corporate and government deployments worldwide, including Avon, Continental Airlines, Dow Jones, EDS, Prudential, University of Miami, Viacom, Vodafone, Warner Music and Wyeth. Founded in 1998, eEye Digital Security is a privately held, venture-backed firm with headquarters in Orange County, California. For more information, please visit www.eEye.com.