Juniper Networks has unveiled a long list of enhancements to its web security software, Mykonos. Juniper acquired the company back in February for $80 million. The new release includes over 30 new features and enhancements, protects against a wider range of attack techniques, has simpler configuration and can handle heavier traffic volumes.
Networking providers like Juniper are continuing to acquire companies and add new services to differentiate themselves in the increasingly competitive networking market. It seems like almost weekly vendors in the space are releasing a new product. Earlier this month, Juniper announced enhancements to its Simply Connected platform, a suite of mobile management and security tools. Now, the company has made major update to Mykonos.

Mykonos has a rather unique approach to web security. It creates fake vulnerabilities to attract attacks. Not only does this approach waste the hacker’s time, it allows the software to observe its behavior to prevent future attacks. Juniper has strengthened the software’s defenses by combatting several new types of attacks.

Juniper added protection for directory traversal attacks. When Mykonos detects an attacker is attempting to map a site’s structure to find vulnerabilities, it tricks the malicious software into believing files are available. This causes the malware to scan endlessly, but not obtain information. In addition, Juniper has protection against brute force authentication attacks. Once Mykonos detects an attacker is attempting to guess a password, it prevents the attacker from gaining access even if they happen to guess the correct password.

In addition to the beefed up security measures, Juniper also upgraded Mykonos’ configuration wizard. The new user interface allows administrators to install and configure the software without code or the assistance of a Juniper service representative. The new release can also process over 1GBps of information, which allows users to protect higher volume sites. The new release is available now for an annual licensing fee of $175,000.