Use Cases: Software, Application and Product Vendor
Multilayer Security or UTM Software and Hardware Products
The new generation of security platforms can offer a
solid "defense-in-depth" approach to network security. However, with
the addition of many new security applications, one leading Unified
Threat Management (UTM) vendor found numerous unintended
vulnerabilities lying dormant within their own code base due to the
near infinite number of settings in combinations of numerous UTM
applications: firewall, web filtering, virus screening, spam filtering,
intrusion prevention and VPN technologies.
To stem the flow of customer inquiries on new
vulnerabilities in their specific deployments, this UTM vendor chose to
address the root cause of the vulnerability problems using Mu Dynamics' proactive service assurance solution. Mu helped the vendor to
comprehensively apply its existing third party test scripts as well as millions of variations on service traffic generated by the Mu Dynamics Test Suite while monitoring and
managing the entire analysis process in a structured and repeatable sequence. As a
result, subsequent product updates and new system releases are being
thoroughly screened for service-impacting software weaknesses before causing downtime in any customer's
production network.
View a
list of protocols commonly used by these customers including SonicWall, Fortinet, and Juniper. Quotes from vendors using Mu to eliminate field fire drills and costly customer downtime are downloadable here.
Network Infrastructure - Routers, Switches
Growing business in nearly every packet-switched network
such as the Internet, this vendor's product suite includes routing and
switching solutions. As numerous real-time protocols are added to both
businesses and home-based routers, vulnerabilities creep into product
upgrades due to incomplete or manual regression testing and outsourced
quality assurance. These two factors led to a non-closed-loop security
analysis environment. Compounding the problem, this vendor found its
products increasingly relied upon for high-speed Internet connections
such as cable, satellite, or DSL where they became highly visible
targets for hacker exploits.
To reverse the tide, this vendor chose Mu to
assist in its development environment and test implementations of key
protocols such as TCP and BGP4. Once in use, the Mu system is already
helping the vendor secure its implementation of numerous protocol
suites for a wide variety of product development efforts. The result is
a noticeable decrease in customer reported new vulnerabilities on both
product upgrades and newly released products.
View a
list of protocols commonly used by these customers including F5 Networks and Force10. Quotes from vendors using Mu to eliminate field fire drills and costly customer downtime are downloadable here.
Back to top ^ | Return to Customer Use Cases List
Page ^
VoIP infrastructure
The market for Voice Over IP (VoIP) equipment sold to
corporations and other enterprises, including phones, hardware and
software, grew 78 percent to $3.07 billion in 2004, according to
Synergy Research Group, and is seen rising to $4.42 billion this year.
By 2009, it should represent nearly $11 billion in sales. With the
growing deployment of VoIP, network operators are
turning to new classes of product and application vendors. The relative
youth of the VoIP market and its use of newer protocols such as SIP are
creating growing complexity in both hardware products and
software applications.
A leading VoIP network operator turned to Mu after learning about several expensive VoIP service quality and downtime incidents. The customer uses Mu throughout their product deployment lifecycle to uncover quality and service weakness issues early in the product rollout
cycle. This led the VoIP operator to re-evaluate its product acceptance and service assurance processes and initiate new acceptance criteria from its vendor suppliers that is already paying dividends with decreasing customer churn due to downtime of poor service quality.
View a
list of protocols commonly used by these customers including Juniper and Ericsson-Redback.
Quotes from vendors using Mu to eliminate field fire drills and costly customer downtime are downloadable here.
Back to top ^ | Return to Customer Use Cases List
Page ^
Mobile wireless infrastructure
Mobile operators today generate more than $2.1 trillion
in worldwide service revenue for more than 9 trillion voice minutes and 1.8
billion mobile subscribers. These operators are increasingly deploying
IP-savvy backhaul and provisioning products to grow their business opportunities with
broadband-speed data and video access. All of the services require complex IP-savvy equipment and applications for high quality
mobile voice and data services.
One global provider of mobile infrastructure turned to
Mu to ensure its supplier products contained no weaknesses that could result in downtime or degraded service quality. This operator also used Mu to create shareable XML-template for benchmarking any new or updated product additions to its service network. This provided the mobile infrastructure
operator with a valuable benchmark for new and existing revenue-critical services including email, music,
PDA bundle and other portable applications.
View a
list of protocols commonly used by Mobile Operators such as BT and their vendor suppliers including Juniper. Quotes from vendors using Mu to eliminate field fire drills and costly customer downtime are downloadable here.
Back to top ^ | Return to Customer Use Cases List
Page ^
Streaming media application developer
Next-generation IP video networks are complex systems
comprised of many different hardware and software products making them
difficult to design and deploy. A recently added Mu user is a
leading developer of streaming audio and video application software who
had both end users and service provider customers complaining of
several new zero day vulnerabilities. Beyond the problems of vendor
integration, next generation feature availability and unprecedented
scale, telecom operators are dealing with streaming applications for
which they have had minimal historical experience. Limited deployment
experience is compounded by their heavy dependence on a relatively new
protocol - Real Time Streaming Protocol (RSTP). RTSP expertise is in
short industry supply yet is extremely valuable as the protocol helps
deliver content to millions of customers over broadband networks.
This streaming media developer quickly realized that
RTSP is a direct touch point to a potentially huge pool of attackers.
They turned to the Mu Test Suite to test RTSP-based applications with stateful invalid or unexpected traffic to help ensure their service
provider and enterprise customers have the ability to offer triple play
services without vulnerability exposure and at comparable service
uptime levels to cable providers.
View a
list of protocols commonly used by these customers including Veraz and Starent. Quotes from vendors using Mu to eliminate field fire drills and costly customer downtime are downloadable here.
Back to top ^ | Return to Customer Use Cases List
Page ^
|
