SAN JOSE, Calif. Dec. 11, 2018 NetSecOPEN , the first industry organization focused on the creation of open, transparent network security performance testing standards, today announced that 11 prominent security vendors, test solutions and services vendors, and testing laboratories have joined the organization as founding members.
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The organization also announced the appointment of its first board of directors, who will guide NetSecOPEN toward its goal: making open network security testing standards a reality.
These developments signal decisive momentum for the organization, which formed in 2017 to close the gap between proprietary performance metrics and the observed real-world performance of security solutions. Certification of security product performance today is typically conducted by independent testing laboratories using proprietary testing methodologies.
True “apples-to-apples” evaluations of security products pose a challenge for enterprise buyers, because the methodologies and test criteria differ from lab to lab. NetSecOPEN believes that testing methodology requires greater transparency, consensus, and standardization, and that real-world factors need to be integrated into the testing methodology.
The NetSecOPEN standard is designed to provide metrics that can be used to compare solutions fairly and to understand the impact on network performance of different solutions under the same conditions. The goal is to examine the performance ramifications of a solution with all of that solution’s security features enabled, conveying the true costs of the solution.
“There is great urgency for open, transparent standards for the testing of network security equipment,” said Brian Monkman, executive director of NetSecOPEN. “Today, security professionals face significant challenges when evaluating, deploying, and optimizing new solutions. Similar product specifications may deliver different results, and products often behave differently with real-world traffic than they do in lab environments.NetSecOPEN was formed specifically to address these issues and make it easier for all organizations to identify the right solutions for securing their environments. We are proud to see measurable progress already, bringing us closer to making open network security testing standards a reality.”
Founding members
Monkman
NetSecOPEN members collaborate through working groups to create testing standards and guidance. The goal is to achieve consistent, open, repeatable evaluations and results. The Founding Members represent leading vendors of security products and services, prominent providers of testing solutions and services, and well-respected safety science and testing labs. The 11 Founding Member organizations are: Check Point Software Technologies, Cisco, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, SonicWall, Sophos, and WatchGuard; test solution and services vendors Spirent and Ixia/Keysight; and testing labs European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC) and the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Lab (UNH-IOL).
Executives from the NetSecOPEN Founding Member organizations have offered comments and supporting statements. Please see these endorsements on the NetSecOPEN web site.
Board of directorsThe NetSecOPEN board is composed of established professionals with backgrounds in network security solutions and test procedures and methodologies. The Board represents a diverse range of companies with expertise in applying solutions, creating specifications, and driving open, common standards. Members of the NetSecOPEN board are:
Chairman: Jurrie Van Den Breekel, VP, Business Development and Product Management, Spirent Communications
Vice Chairman: Aria Eslambolchizadeh, Executive Director Quality Engineering, SonicWALL
Treasurer: Carsten Rossenhoevel, Managing Director at EANTC (European Advanced Networking Test Center)
Sashi Jeyaretnam, Director, Product Management, Ixia/Keysight
Alex Samonte, Sr. System Consulting Engineer, Fortinet
Brian Monkman, Executive Director, NetSecOPEN
The standardThere are currently no up-to-date open standards for network security performance testing. Networks have transitioned in the last decade from 80% unencrypted HTTP traffic to over 80% of the perimeter traffic in many organizations being encrypted with modern secure cipher suites. This change has resulted in the creation of numerous proprietary methods to determine how well security solutions perform. NetSecOPEN addresses this confusing array of competing standards with open standards that are intended to close the gap between how proprietary metrics evaluate performance and how the solutions actually perform in the real world.
The NetSecOPEN testing standard has been submitted to the IETF’s Benchmark Working Group and is available here. It includes a real-world traffic mix with 400 encryption certificates and 10,000 unique URLs. The testing methodology is unique to NetSecOPEN and provides a more comprehensive and accurate picture of the load performance that security products face. Specifications are in the final stages of approval. Products can be submitted for testing beginning in Q4 2018. For further information and assistance, please contact info@netsecopen.org.
About NetSecOPENNetSecOPEN is a network security industry group in which network security vendors, tool vendors, labs, and enterprises collaborate to create open and transparent testing standards. The goal of the group is to create a suite of standards that can be used for the evaluation and/or certification of network security products. The NetSecOPEN standards will provide guidelines and best practices for testing modern network security infrastructure.
NetSecOPEN is working toward being certified as a standards body that will oversee the creation and updating of standards. Additionally, NetSecOPEN will oversee evaluation testing by network security product vendors and certification testing conducted by labs against the standards. Anyone with a vested interest in the outcome can participate in the creation or updating of the standards. These efforts will be conducted in an open and transparent manner, with meeting minutes and the status of the projects posted at https://www.netsecopen.org .
