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Network Associates adds Linux product

CyberCop Scanner network-security tool is the first product the company will port to Linux.

Network Associates, which has focused almost exclusively on software for Windows NT, is adding a Linux version of its CyberCop Scanner tool for probing networks to detect security vulnerabilities.

The company said security consultants and companies that test the security of networks have shown great interest in Linux-based security tools. For security audits, Network Associates said consultants preferred Linux over Sun Solaris by a ratio of about 50 to 1.

"Network Associates responded to our security professionals' need to use CyberCop in conjunction with several Linux-based Ernst & Young proprietary security tools," George Kurtz, director of the Ernst & Young security profiling services, said in a statement.

CyberCop Scanner is the first Network Associates' product on the Linux platform.

Linux is a free version of the Unix operating system that has caught on as an alternative to Windows NT or commercial Unix. An increasing number of companies is offering to provide technical support for Linux--at a price. [See related story]

CyberCop Scanner evaluates networks and then advises the network manager how to close any security holes it finds. A component of Network Associates' security suite, Net Tools Secure, CyberCop Scanner was acquired last May with Secure Networks Incorporated, which marketed the product as Ballista.

CyberCop Scanner on Linux is being shipped to Network Associates customers. It's free to current CyberCop users under the Network Associates subscription-pricing model. CyberCop Scanner is also available as part of Net Tools Secure, priced from $56 per node for 5,000 users.