January 10, 2000

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Stronger Security For Global Networks
Pilot's distributed architecture aids Primus Telecommunications' security efforts

By Brian Riggs

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nternet-borne viruses, hacker threats, and rapidly evolving security technology may have many companies bewildered about how to keep their business safe as more processes move to the Web. To this end, Primus Telecommunications Group Inc. last week unveiled plans to improve the security of its global network by integrating Pilot Network Services Inc.'s distributed security architecture.

Primus will connect its data centers to Pilot's Heuristic Defense Infrastructure, a network system that can automatically detect E-mail-spread viruses, pinpoint attempts to hack into companies' virtual private networks, and identify unauthorized network access. The Pilot system not only monitors E-mail and other data traveling over the network, but also learns how to deal with security threats as hackers, virus writers, and others develop them, says Pilot Network CEO Marketta Silvera. "It's easy to protect against what you know is a threat, but it's more difficult to defend against what you don't know," she says.

Primus, the first service provider to connect to Pilot's security centers, plans to offer a set of secure Internet-access, business-to-business E-commerce, and Web and application-hosting services based on the Pilot system later this quarter. "We are seeing brick-and-mortar companies taking more and more of their business online, and they are asking for services to secure their data communications integrity," says Robin Dua, VP of Primus' Internet business unit. Primus invested $15 million in Pilot as part of the agreement.

Analysts say Primus' enhanced security services promise to simplify security issues that are becoming increasingly complex as companies migrate operations to the Internet. Says Eric Hemmendinger, an Aberdeen Group analyst, "For companies whose web of relationships of users, customers, and businesses is growing rapidly, managing all the rules on the firewall gets out-of-hand rapidly."

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