Global Command Center

The Global Command Center (GCC) from Secure Computing is a serious tool that will appeal to those with a large or complex network to administer and who seek a fine level of configuration and control.

It was provided with a 1U rack mount server running a hardened version of Linux. GCC consists of a brace of client-side software modules. These include an administration tool for setting up users, roles and licenses; a configuration tool for setting up policies and configuring Secure Computing devices; a report and monitoring tool for managing alerts and responses; and a software update tool.

These modules are all attractively presented and intuitive in use. Furthermore, the granularity of control provided is impressive, and administrators are unlikely to find the overall system wanting in this respect.

However, it should perhaps be stressed that such tools are for the use of experienced network security professionals who already have a good understanding of their networks, devices and overall topology.

The range of devices which can be brought under the watchful eye of the Global Command Center is impressive, and these may be administered in groups or individually as required. Policies and rules may be configured to a fine degree of granularity, and alerts subsequently generated may be examined via the events browser or further directed via email, pagers, SNMP traps and syslogs as appropriate.

A role-based administration model supports segregation of duties, which may be important for regulatory compliance purposes as well as general best practice. Various authentication services are also supported.

This is a very comprehensive and flexible product, which, properly configured, can form the heart of an equally comprehensive network security model for the medium and larger-sized enterprise. It is not for the faint- hearted, though, and may require some investment in time in order to bring everything on your networks into scope.

However, having done so, it will allow you to exercise a fine level of control over components and users, together with a comprehensive monitoring and reporting facility. A visit to the Secure Computing website would be a good first stop for those seeking such a product.