[Video] It-sa - IT Security Expo and Congress 2016 Post Show Recap

In my six years of exhibiting at the it-sa IT Security Messe and Kongress in Nuremberg, Germany I’ve seen notable changes and significant growth of both the Expo and the trade visitors.

This year the topics on everyone’s minds were identification and prevention of DDoS attacks, Malware and Ransomware as well as all matters about Cyber Security.

Do you know what's going on in your network?

Do you know what’s going on in your network?

This was our ‘hook’ to captivate and engage the visitors passing our shared booth with my company, NEOX Networks, and our two partners Savvius and Garland Technology. We also offered a complete network monitoring solution.

This year it-sa had a 10% growth rate of booth exhibitors and trade visitors. Trade visitors exceeded 10,000 and new companies that wanted to exhibit this year were not able to secure space. However in 2017, the show staffers are planning for expansion since the role of IT security will only increase in this era of cyber attacks.

The Tool Behind the TAP

We provided visitors a complete picture of network visibility by featuring a demonstration of Savvius’ Omnipeek deployed with Garland’s network TAPs and packet brokers. In this demo, we showcased how Omnipeek’s analysis and forensics tool allows security professionals to monitor their network for threats and anomalies. However, Omnipeek needs all the packets in order to provide complete network visibility - this is where Garland’s network TAPs and packet brokers come into the solution by providing 100% packet capture.

“You cannot compromise on packet capture when you are striving to attain network security. It is a short sighted statement to say that a SPAN port can do the same thing as a TAP. It has been proven by many experts and labs that SPAN/switch ports result in packet loss. This is a reality, not a what-if.” explains Chris Bihary, CEO/Co-founder of Garland Technology.

At the it-sa show there is a large segment of high level network managers and engineers that are very educated and understand the requirement of complete packet capture. But then you engage with a visitor that thinks that a SPAN/switch port can accomplish the same level of packet capture that a TAP can. I often find myself taking on the role of educator because it is imperative that the risks of using SPAN/switch ports in security environments are significant, not just because of the inevitable packet loss, but also because this is an active device, once the switch is attacked it doesn’t provide any visibility.

The Team Behind the Tools

Enjoy our it-sa video recap, find familiar faces and friends or tag yourself in our facebook photos.

Until next year, Prost!