The next-generation Cisco Security Agent network security software provides threat protection for server and desktop computing systems, also known as "endpoints". The Cisco Security Agent goes beyond conventional endpoint security solutions by identifying and preventing malicious behavior before it can occur, thereby removing potential known and unknown security risks that threaten enterprise networks and applications. Because the Cisco Security Agent analyzes behavior rather than relying on signature matching, its solution provides robust protection with reduced operational costs. As recent high-visibility attacks like Code Red and the SQL Slammer worm have shown, traditional technologies are limited in their abilities to combat the effects of new and evolving attacks. Customers require host security that protects throughout all stages of an attack and provides important protection against new and unknown threats. Assaults on network systems typically go through stages. Cisco recognizes that only a layered approach is effective against security breaches that can occur at any stage, from beyond the perimeter, to the server, or at the file level. The Cisco Security Agent proactively defends against damage to a host, throughout all stages of the attack, whereas other technologies provide early-stage protection and only then when a signature is known. The Cisco Security Agent is specifically designed to protect against new attacks where there is no known signature. The Cisco Security Agent consists of a management console resident on a server and host-based agents that are deployed on mission-critical desktops and servers. The agents use the HTTP and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocols (128-bit SSL) for the management interface, and for the communications between agents and the management console.