12/14/98 BIG BLUE FINDS A BETTER WAY TO BLOCK HACKERS

BIG BLUE FINDS A BETTER WAY TO BLOCK HACKERS

HOW DO YOU MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT A VICTIM OF COMPUTER CRIME? An IBM researcher has found a way. Called Haxor, the intrusion-detection software offers some important advances over other systems. Say there's a new program out that can sneak through your current defenses. If you want to update your intrusion-detection software to be on the watch for that program, you need to take the system off-line. Then you're defenseless.
Not so with Haxor. You can program software in real time. Plus, it keeps watching your network while it receives updates about the latest techniques for breaking into computers. Haxor can also be set to alert managers if sensitive files are being accessed or if a particular individual is on the network.
So far, IBM isn't planning to market Haxor as an individual product. The company will incorporate the technology in a new suite of systems-management software scheduled for release during the first quarter of next year.
EDITED BY IRA SAGER