Chapter 1 About Network Security Platform; Network Security Platform Components; About Mcafee Network Security Sensor - McAfee M3050 - Network Security Platform Installation Manual

C 1
H A P T E R
About Network Security Platform
McAfee ® Network Security Platform [formerly McAfee
network appliances and software built for the accurate detection and prevention of
intrusions, denial of service (DoS) attacks, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks,
and network misuse. Network Security Platform provides comprehensive network intrusion
detection and can block, or prevent, attacks in real time, making it truly an intrusion
prevention system (IPS).

Network Security Platform components

Network Security Platform consists of the following major components:

McAfee

McAfee
interface

McAfee Update Server (on page 6)

About McAfee Network Security Sensor

®
A McAfee
detection and prevention of intrusions, misuse, and distributed denial of service (DDoS)
attacks. McAfee Network Security Sensor (Sensor) are specifically designed to handle
traffic at wire speed, inspect and detect intrusions with a high degree of accuracy, and
flexible enough to adapt to the security needs of any enterprise environment.
When deployed at key network access points, a Sensor provides real-time traffic
monitoring to detect malicious activity and respond to the malicious activity as configured
by the administrator.
Sensors are configured and managed using McAfee Network Security Manager
(Manager). The process of configuring a Sensor and establishing communication with the
Manager is described in later chapters of this guide. The Manager server is described in
detail in the
Sensor functionality
The primary function of a device is to analyze traffic on selected network segments and to
respond when an attack is detected. The device examines the header and data portion of
every network packet, looking for patterns and behavior in the network traffic that indicate
malicious activity. The device examines packets according to user-configured policies, or
rule sets, which determine what attacks to watch for, and how to respond with
countermeasures if an attack is detected.
® Network Security Sensor (Sensor) (on page 1)
®
Network Security Manager (Manager), with its Web-based graphical user
Network Security Sensor is a content-processing appliance built for accurate
.
Getting Started Guide
1
® IntruShield ® ] is a combination of