Ixia introduced its Application and Threat Intelligence (ATI) Processor, which enhances the network, application and security insights IT organizations get from their existing monitoring tools.

This product provides Ixia’s Visibility Architecture with the ability to provide real-time information about users and applications in any format needed – raw packets, filtered packets or metadata. With the number of valid and malicious applications rapidly increasing, this unprecedented visibility intelligence helps IT organizations within large enterprises and service providers to identify, locate and track network applications – including proprietary, mobile and malicious traffic.

Ixia’s new ATI Processor for the NTO 7300 brings a new level of intelligence to the network packet broker. Distinct Application Fingerprints and a patent pending dynamic identification capability for unknown applications give network managers a complete view of their networks, including application success and failure tracking. By combining rich contextual information such as geo-location of application usage, handset or device type, operating system and browser type, the ATI Processor helps to identify suspicious activity such as unauthorized BYOD usage or business connections from untrusted locations.

Ixia customers can now leverage their monitoring tools in conjunction with the enhanced information provided by the ATI Processor to spot trends in application usage, user behavior and quality of service with more speed and accuracy. This unique insight can also resolve security concerns such as rapidly spotting Command and Control (CnC) traffic from infected systems and policy infractions from BYOD usage. Previously, IT administrators would have to piece together many independent streams of information in a tedious and error-prone process.

The ATI Processor is backed by the same ATI program that fuels Ixia’s test equipment, which includes more than 245 applications and 35,000 malicious attacks and combines frequent Application Fingerprint updates with support of user-defined applications. The specialized hardware employed in the ATI Processor optimizes visibility performance by offloading DPI and metadata extraction, improving tool performance and delivering richer insight into network usage, problems and trends. This functionality delivers greater overall value to our customers.

ATI Processor features include:

- Dynamic application intelligence capabilities to identify known, proprietary, and even unknown network applications.

- Enhanced insight including geo-location, handset type, operating system, browser and other key user data.

- Empirical data generation to identify bandwidth usage, trends and growth needs delivered via API or Ixia’s IxFlow extensions to NetFlow.

“The importance of understanding application performance, service quality and security integrity from the network perspective has been steadily rising in both enterprise and service provider settings,” said Jim Frey, EMA’s VP of Research, Network Management. “Such visibility is essential for timely assurance and protection of complex applications despite growing traffic volumes and increasing diversity in how end users and subscribers access applications and services. Options for DPI processing and identification at the packet access layer, such as Ixia’s new ATI Processor offering, means valuable flexibility for establishing and sustaining effective visibility."