TCS Picks Athena Security's FirePAC to Reduce Security Risk

Tata Consultancy Services “TCS,” an Indian-based provider of consulting and outsourced IT Infrastructure services, announced that it has picked Athena Security’s FirePAC to reduce firewall security risk for customers.

According to a press release, both the companies partnered to accomplish reduced firewall security risk by improving process efficiency for firewall audits and change monitoring, as well as lowering the cost of compliance, as part of the TCS Co-Innovation Network “COIN.”

For those unaware, TCS’ Co-Innovation Network “COIN” is led by TCS Innovation Labs, a research center. It is a diverse network that uses IP management and partnering strategies to drive innovation in an environment of open communities and solution brokers, in order to provide value to its customers within the entire technology landscape.

Athena Security’s FirePAC, which is being leveraged by TCS, is an offline software tool designed for Cisco (News - Alert), Check Point and Netscreen firewalls. This low cost, easy to use tool tests how traffic is controlled by the firewall without inserting any packets. This process helps in lowering the cost of compliance. It also provides comprehensive audits that isolate the risky rules for immediate and precise remediation.

Encompassing many solution modules that can be licensed as individual products or in any combination, the FirePAC provides advanced change analytics. All the solution modules together can be configured to address operational, security audit and/or compliance needs, according to Athena.

The advanced change analytics in the FirePAC suite allows users to monitor how the firewall is controlling traffic on an ongoing basis. In addition, the suite makes sure that polices are maintained without compromising the security of the network for major project-based initiatives, including data center or platform migrations.

Officials with TCS said in the release that leveraging Athena Security’s FirePAC as part of TCS Co-Innovation Network program breaks the mold of traditional partnering models by reaping the value of the innovation labs. This helps in utilizing expertise together with product companies, so that breakthrough advancements can be showcased to worldwide customers.

K. Ananth Krishnan, VP and CTO of TCS, said in a statement, "We selected Athena FirePAC for our program because of the company's ability to lead the market with focused solutions that are applicable to every phase of firewall management."

Krishnan added, "From new customers to existing customers, we will be able to utilize FirePAC to inform our customers about the health of their firewalls and the steps that can be taken to harden them, without wasting any cycles on imprecise testing. Enterprise firewalls have grown extremely complex to manage and, combined with our process, we see this as an exciting opportunity to offer the most advanced firewall management service available anywhere."

"We are honored to be part of this program and look forward to augmenting the TCS commitment to drive the adoption of innovative products," said Adarsh Arora, CEO of Athena Security, in a statement. "As one of the world's largest IT services companies, TCS is facilitating a truly prominent network of technology vendors, venture funds, global academic institutions, and service alliance partners. Customers not only gain from the perspective TCS has because of its broad and comprehensive market view, but also from the extensive due diligence invested by TCS innovation lab experts to select best-in class products."

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