Lumeta's IPsonar solution helps DoD map its computer networks

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), which since 2003 has been using the IPSonar mapping and leak detection solution on its Secure Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet), has decided to use the same solution across its entire enterprise, making it available to all DoD networks, armed forces installations and military bases worldwide.

IPsonar has been developed by Lumeta Corp., of Somerset, NJ, which supplies it to DoD through a systems integrator, TKC Global LLC, of Herndon, VA.

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), which since 2003 has been using the IPSonar mapping and leak detection solution on its Secure Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet), has decided to use the same solution across its enterprise, making it available to all DoD networks, armed forces installations and military bases worldwide.

IPsonar has been developed by Lumeta Corp., of Somerset, NJ, which supplies it to DoD through a systems integrator, TKC Global LLC, of Herndon, VA.

Using IPsonar, a customer 'can identify every asset on a network, including assets that are unknown or not currently under management, and then map and analyze the connectivity between assets and networks to uncover risk patterns and automate enforcement of network policies,' said a statement issued by TKC Global.

Michael Markulec, of Lumeta, explained in an interview with GSN  that developing a map for all the entry points into a computer network -- and all the connections that exist between networks -- is crucial to protecting such networks.

'If you don't know where all the windows and doors are in a building, it's impossible to secure that building,' said Markulec.

DISA has been using IPSonar since 2003 to safeguard its SIPRNet, which handles secure communications, but nevertheless decided to issue a competitive request for proposals when it sought an enterprise-wide solution. 'I think we had a leg up, given our history,' Markulec acknowledged.

Lumeta has been awarded a multi-year contract worth more than $10 million to cover what could amount to more than 10 million devices, he added.

The role for mapping software, which can identify individual assets and how networks are interconnected, has grown more important as the world has witnessed a vast proliferation of networks. For example, computer-based medical equipment is now being connected to the Department of Veterans Affairs network. Similarly, devices that control heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) are sometimes connected to computer networks that have traditionally driven a government department's administrative activities.

'Lumeta's previous deployment with DISA demonstrated IPsonar's ability to provide network mapping and leak detection on one of the world's largest networks,' said David Hickey, the company's president and chief executive officer, in a prepared statement issued on January 12.

In the military, vulnerabilities created when networks are inadvertently connected can cause enormous problems, particularly if secret or sensitive networks are somehow connected to non-classified or administrative networks. By identifying such connections, IPsonar helps network administrators break those connections, when necessary.