8/21/2006 -- Cisco Systems Inc. plans to demonstrate its range of network threat-defense solutions at the sixth Hack in the Box Security Conference next month in scenic Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It's part of a continuing Asia-Pacific push by Cisco, which has made that region a major focus of recent sales and marketing efforts.

To that end, Cisco has partnered with Asia-Pac vendors (such as Fujitsu) and in some cases with national governments (such as the People's Republic of China) to increase its visibility and expand its reach.

Cisco's participation in the Hack in the Box conference is a case in point. The networking giant plans to showcase the range of products that collectively comprise its so-called Threat Defense System, which Cisco says is designed to help businesses identify and forestall access breaches, worm attacks and viruses, and even internal threats.

On top of that, Cisco has signed on as one of the main sponsors of Hack in the Box, which at this year's event will offer a seven-day hands-on technical training session as well as two days of deep-knowledge presentations. The goal, Cisco officials say, is to disseminate and discuss network security information. The event will feature more than 30 leading specialists from the mainstream network security arena, along with contributors from the "black hat" community. -Stephen Swoyer