Re: ICSA Labs Network IPS Testing

[Stefano Zanero <s.zanero () securenetwork it>]

Hi, didn't mean to interfere in your ongoing flame, but:

> IPS certification testing, I thought I ought to correct some misleading
> information 

Oh, good, let's see! You don't mind if instead of going through your
whitepapers I just use your own email as a source, right?

> IPS certification testing program.  The truth is that we do not "pick
> specific attacks and say that you must block these." 

That's wonderful to hear. So, what do you do instead?

> provides coverage protection for all attacks targeting an evolving set
> of medium-to-high severity vulnerabilities that we and a consortium of
> 15 network IPS vendors
> (http://www.icsalabs.com/icsa/topic.php?tid=6a87$5813f3e2-37b77ee3$3b4a-
> f1d4a32d) believe are relevant to enterprise end users.

So, you pick specific attacks (which are a snapshot of a set of
vulnerabilities that you + the tested vendors believe are relevant) and
say "you must block these", right ?

This seems exactly the same sentence that Joel posted, only a bit more
elaborate :)

And just to shoot another shot in the dead horse of IDPS testing,
testing MISUSE based detectors (as most IPS are) on "detection rate" is
pointless. Testing them on coverage is tricky at best, and does not
really provide any useful insight at all on IPS where (as Joel pointed
out) having 60k signatures instead of 30k does not really mean anything.

Oh, and on a side note:

>  a) is in no position to speak authoritatively about ICSA Labs network
> IPS testing,

The sheer fact that someone is "in no position to speak" about your
tests means that your tests are lacking. If a test is properly
documented and scientific, everybody is in a position to speak about it.

In the particular case of Joel Snyder, who has been doing excellent
tests for a long time, I'd say he is in a particularly good position to
comment.

If this email sounds harsh, well, it is. I just don't like people
commenting AGAINST other people, instead than pointing out the specific
flaws in their posts.

Best,
Stefano

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