Exodus Makes Security Play

Web hosting provider Exodus
Communications Inc. Thursday purchased the professional services division of Network-1 Security Solutions Inc.

Financial details were not disclosed.

Exodus’ (EXDS)
interest in beefing up security comes at a time when numerous large dot-coms
have fallen prey to hackers who flood their sites with mail. Exodus said Network-1’s (NSSI)
services division will extend its network security consulting
expertise.

As part of the deal, Exodus will gain two products, TRAPS and SNAPS,
external and internal penetration study programs designed to analyze and
reinforce network security. Exodus plans to offer services to test
customers’ existing security defenses and develop solutions for preventing
security breaches.

The division consists of a team of expert security consultants, led by Bill Hancock, formerly Network-1’s chief technology officer.

“Our professional services team has been providing security consulting for
over nine years and we have been responsible for designing, implementing and
securing some of the world’s largest and most complex networks,” said
Hancock. “As part of Exodus’ professional services organization, we can
apply this knowledge and offer valuable security expertise to provide
protection for customers’
e-commerce operations.”

This week, a rash of hacker attacks has plagued Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), Buy.com Inc. (BUYC)
and eBay Inc. (EBAY). The hackers reportedly hit these destinations with scads of false requests
for data, which caused restrictions in the bandwidth available to consumers.