[ISN] MCI Worldcom joins security force

Forwarded From: darek milewski <darekm@cmeasures.com>

http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,32590,00.html
MCI Worldcom joins security force
By Tim Clark
February 18, 1999, 12:35 p.m. PT

     Add MCI WorldCom to the parade of companies entering the security
services and outsourcing market. 

     Knitting together pieces from its many acquisitions, MCI WorldCom's
new security unit will compete with GTE Internetworking, Pilot Network
Services, IBM, the Big Five accounting and consulting firms, and Lucent
Technologies, which entered the security fray last week. 

     "We can bring together networking, security, and Internet hosting," 
said Jason Comstock, general manager of the new security unit. The service
includes offerings from CompuServe Network Services, ANS, UUNet, and
GridNet, all WorldCom acquisitions. "We see security as a core offering
for MCI WorldCom, especially security consulting." 

     As corporations move toward Internet commerce and sharing corporate
information with partners on so-called extranets, network security has
become a growing concern.  Even the largest corporations are having
trouble hiring scarce talent in the field, so security outsourcing has
boomed. 

     "When you look at security as an enabling technology that allows you
to make money safely, then it starts to make sense to outsource," said Jim
Balderston, security analyst at Zona Research. 

     Matthew Kovar, an industry analyst at the Yankee Group, likes MCI's
move. "MCI WorldCom has made a great stride to catch up to the leader in
this area, which has been GTE Internetworking," he said. 

     MCI WorldCom's new security service comes barely a week after the
company's complex, $17 billion deal to sell its MCI Systemhouse computer
services unit and 12,000 employees to Electronic Data Systems.

    The security services unit is far smaller than Systemhouse, with about
170 people, a data center in Reston, Virginia, and a limited range of
outsourcing options. 

    Housed within MCI WorldCom's Advanced Networks unit, the managed
security services' menu includes outsourcing or installation of Virtual
Private Networks (VPNs); firewalls; authentication services; security
training; and security assessment. The SecureSweep service, which checks
networks for holes intruders might exploit, is handled by independent
contractors. 

    "Security outsourcing is a subset of the larger market moving toward
application service providers, or ASPs,"  Balderston said. The ASP
movement, which emerged last year, involves an ISP or other service
provider hosting e-commerce, enterprise resource planning, or other
applications for customers.

    Comstock said MCI WorldCom will add managed authentication, broader
training programs, and partnerships with certificate authorities for using
digital IDs for security on corporate networks or extranets. 

    In addition to offering managed security directly to multinational
corporations worldwide, MCI WorldCom plans a "private label" version that
resellers can market to smaller U.S.  companies and in Latin America.

    The service will use internally developed firewall software as well as
products from Check Point Software, authentication servers and tokens from
Security Dynamics and Secure Computing, and scanning tools from Internet
Security Systems. 


-o-
Subscribe: mail majordomo@repsec.com with "subscribe isn".
Today's ISN Sponsor: Internet Security Institute [www.isi-sec.com]