Hello everyone,

The other day I went to a presentation by IBM's new business group WatchFire on a web application security screen utility they have.  The information was very good for anyone designing web applications.

I've attached information on the product below.  IBM could be talked into presenting at one of our meetings if there is enough interested.

WatchFire

IBM Rational AppScan: Preemptive Security.
The Internet now drives business and that means that Internet security
is
key to business success. Web applications present significant threat of
attacks for organizations.
To stay ahead of hackers' and protect sensitive data, security teams
need
to understand how vulnerabilities in applications are first exposed and
then exploited by cyber-criminals for profit.

Why Internet security is a high priority:
- Web applications are the #1 focus of hackers
- 90% of web sites are vulnerable to application attacks
- 80% of organizations will experience an application security incident
by
2010
- Yet, on the average, organizations are spending only 10% of their IT
security budgets to protect their applications from hackers!

What does AppScan do?
IBM(r) Rational(r) AppScan is an automated scanning tool used to perform
vulnerability assessments on Web Applications.
AppScan scans web applications, finds security issues and reports on
them
in an actionable fashion. It provides:
* Scanning and testing of the target web applications in order to
identify
security vulnerabilities
* Detailed security defect advisories and fix recommendations for
developers
* Extensive compliance reporting
* Defect logging to bug tracking system which increases web application
security visibility and manageability throughout the enterprise
* Web application security tests run as part of standard regression test
scripts

Web application should be part of your security:
The consequences of a security breach are great: loss of revenue, damage
to
credibility, legal liability and loss of customer trust.
It is a lot cheaper to protect than clean up. Stop threats before they
impact your business!

Learn about Web application Hacking 1st Hand:
Watchfire's Hacker 101 highlights the current security landscape of what
organizations are doing to address application security.
It will also discuss the fundamentals of hacking and the techniques that
hackers are using.

Hacking 101 condensed (20 minutes):
http://watchfire.acrobat.com/p79745417/