Modern malware detection and prevention behind the firewall

FireEye now offers an inline appliance version of its Malware Protection System: the new appliances sit behind the firewall and detect attacks without the use of antivirus signatures.

The new appliances, which are based on the company's existing Malware Protection System products, basically catch the unknown threats that firewalls and intrusion prevention systems (IPSes) don't, says Marc Maiffrett, chief security architect for FireEye. "When we light up is when [unknown threats] are slipping through, or if there's already stuff on your network," he says.

FireEye's technology uses virtual machine analysis and FireEye's cloud-based intelligence network -- but no malware signatures. "In a full malware lifecycle, there are still inbound exploits coming through the network from WiFi or USBs … existing compromised machines, so we look at the outbound traffic coming out of the network [as well]," Maiffrett says.

Maiffrett says FireEye got to see its technology's response during Operation Aurora, when some of its customers were among those targeted in the attacks on Google, Adobe, Intel, and others. "We got to see firsthand how it would play out. Three of our customers ... were using our [original] detection product," he says, which helped analyze the malware used in the attacks.

With the new inline appliance, a zero-day like Aurora would go to the VM analysis engine first: "As soon as we could see it was bad ... we put in a rule that blocks it from calling back to the server in Taiwan," for example, Maiffrett says. "So any computers that might have been targeted would not be able to communicate out."

FireEye today also launched Modern Malware Exposed, a site that includes educational content and tools for businesses and provides a free malware assessment.

Pricing for the FireEye 2000, 4000, and 7000 series network security appliances starts at $24,950.

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About the Author(s)

Kelly Jackson Higgins, Editor-in-Chief, Dark Reading

Kelly Jackson Higgins is the Editor-in-Chief of Dark Reading. She is an award-winning veteran technology and business journalist with more than two decades of experience in reporting and editing for various publications, including Network Computing, Secure Enterprise Magazine, Virginia Business magazine, and other major media properties. Jackson Higgins was recently selected as one of the Top 10 Cybersecurity Journalists in the US, and named as one of Folio's 2019 Top Women in Media. She began her career as a sports writer in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, and earned her BA at William & Mary. Follow her on Twitter @kjhiggins.

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