Sourcefire, Inc., the creators of Snort and a leader in intelligent cybersecurity solutions, today announced the expansion of the Sourcefire 3D System to support the Xen 3.3.2 and 3.4.2 virtualisation platforms. Now supporting the two leading virtual environments – Xen and VMware – Sourcefire is enabling customers with diverse virtual platforms to further protect these investments, while also leveraging these resources to increase intrusion prevention capabilities.

Sourcefire’s Virtual 3D Sensor and Virtual Defense Centre now provide Xen environments with all the functionality originally available for VMware. Users can deploy Virtual 3D Sensors to inspect traffic between two or more Xen or VMware virtual machines, while also using physical Sourcefire 3D Sensors to inspect traffic going into and out of a virtual environment. With this support for both Xen and VMware, Sourcefire is making it easier to deploy and manage virtual sensors at remote sites where physical resources may be limited, such as retail stores and branch offices, or where little rack space remains in the datacenter. This release also provides additional flexibility to enterprises and cloud computing companies, which rely on a variety of virtualisation platforms to support specific requirements.

“As virtualisation takes hold within today’s leading environments, Sourcefire’s support for Xen and VMware allows our customers to implement the platform of their choice with confidence that they have the leading protection against today’s attacks,” said Tom Ashoff, SVP of Engineering and Customer Support at Sourcefire. “By extending protection to the Xen platform, more users will be able to leverage our award-winning technology to protect both their virtual and physical environments.”

The Virtual 3D Sensor provides simultaneous execution of Sourcefire IPS, RNA (Real-time Network Awareness) and RUA (Real-time User Awareness) functions. Customers can deploy the Virtual Defense Centre to monitor any combination of up to 25 virtual or physical 3D Sensors. They can also opt to monitor their Virtual 3D Sensors from the same physical Defense Center they use to monitor their physical 3D Sensors.