4/21/2009 -- At the 2009 RSA Conference, Cisco Systems Inc. today unveiled a bevy of new offerings that buttress its network security infrastructure strategy.

What's more, at least one Cisco offering lets it deliver security services via the cloud. Officials spin the new offerings as consistent with Cisco's end-to-end focus on network security.

"Our vision for security is based on a balance of protection and enablement, which integrates security from the network through to the endpoint and the user," said Tom Gillis, vice president and general manager of Cisco's Security Technology business unit, in a statement. "Security needs to capture the latest threat intelligence to mitigate shifting threats. This combination enables businesses to collaborate with greater confidence when engaging employees, partners and customers."

Cisco's new or updated product offerings include Security Cloud Services, version 7.0 of its IPS Sensor Software, Series 8.2 of its ASA 5500 Series software, a new ASA Botnet Traffic Filter, several enhancements to its remote access and VPN technology, and a number of other deliverables.

Cisco's new Security Cloud Services offering lets shops expose disparate security services, from different applications and networks, via the cloud.

Meanwhile, its IPS Sensor Software version 7.0 delivers support for global correlation -- basically, a capability that searches data collected by a "massive footprint" of different security devices for patterns, trends or other actionable insights. Cisco claims that Global Correlation makes IPS 7.0 "up to two times as effective" as conventional (i.e., signature-only) IPS technologies.

Elsewhere, Cisco's improved ASA 5500 software boasts improved threat mitigation capabilities -- starting with Cisco's new Botnet Traffic Filter -- and offers support for small office environments, too.

Finally, Cisco announced a new security reference architecture (Cisco SAFE) and the availability of IT Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC) security assessment services. --Stephen Swoyer