Proofpoint has joined the Open Information Security Foundation (OISF) as a platinum member, underscoring its ongoing support for open source security initiatives. Building on its acquisition of deep threat intelligence provider, Emerging Threats, Proofpoint remains committed to enabling organizations worldwide to stay protected from today’s most sophisticated targeted attacks and advanced malware. “Cyberattacks are constantly evolving—and combating them requires engagement between government agencies, private companies, and open source communities,” said Gary Steele, Proofpoint CEO. “Proofpoint has a history of making use of and contributing to open source initiatives. Our involvement in the Open Information Security Foundation is an extension of our dedication to the success of Suricata and the Emerging Threats community.”
The OISF formed in 2009 to develop Suricata, an open source IDS engine that functions as an intrusion detection system, intrusion prevention system and network security monitoring solution. Proofpoint provides the only Suricata-focused ruleset and maintains the quality assurance and distribution infrastructure for the Proofpoint ET Open IPS/IDS ruleset. More than 20,000 organizations and individuals rely on the ruleset, which is distributed daily at no cost and is known for providing one of the world’s top sources for threat intelligence on major malware detection and prevention.
The Proofpoint ET Open IPS/IDS ruleset collects submissions from one of the largest and most active IDS/IPS rule-writing communities and includes never-seen-before threats. This continually updated list of rules enables monitoring engines to automatically detect and block known, advanced threats. Approximately five years ago, Emerging Threats launched what is now the Proofpoint ET Pro Ruleset, a commercial ruleset atop the open IDS ruleset and added support for the Suricata platform. The Proofpoint research team tests all rules for optimum performance and accurate detection.
“With the complexity of the threat landscape continuing to increase, the mission of the OISF is more important than ever,” said Matthew Jonkman, vice president of Emerging Threats Research for Proofpoint, and OISF President. “With the support of Proofpoint, I look forward to continuing to help guide the OISF and ensure the development of Suricata.”
