RE: Why eEye Retina (was MBSA scanner)

From: Mike Murray (mmurray_at_ncircle.com)
Date: 04/22/04

  • Next message: Shawn Edwards: "Re: MBSA scanner" 
    Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 20:33:13 -0700
To: "Shawn Edwards" <shawn.edwards@nokia.com>, <clarke-cummings@columbus.rr.com>

    Let me state up front: I work for a competitor in the VA market, so I'm
    going to stay far away from any discussion on products, and try to stick
    with a bit of philosophy.

    I had one comment on something that Shawn said:

    > I know for a fact that they have some very skilled persons
    > doing dev there. ... Just check some of their development
    > discoveries that's gotta count for something!

    While this is definitely an argument for the fact that a company has
    very smart people working for it (which is definitely not in question in
    eEye's case), I question the validity of the argument as far as the
    evaluation of a network VA tool. If the ability to discover new
    vulnerabilities were the gold standard for a good VA tool, we'd all be
    buying something that Dave Aitel wrote.

    While it is often given as a reason that one tool is better than
    another, it simply doesn't follow that an aptitude for discovering new
    vulnerabilities in code is the same as an aptitude for discovering known
    vulnerabilities in running services in the real world. IMHO, the skills
    are related, but significantly different.

    In my mind the analogy is similar to that of the difference between
    medical research and surgery. People who practice one extremely well
    don't usually practice the other to the same level, even though the
    skills (though not necessarily the mindsets) required to perform both
    are somewhat similar in many cases. One just happens to be focused on
    discovering new techniques out in the world, and the other happens to be
    focused on saving lives.

    My $0.02.

    M

    -------------------------------------------------
    Michael Murray
    Director of Vulnerability and Exposure Research
    nCircle Network Security
    Office: 416-533-5305
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