Sourcefire VRT Certified Rules Subscription Update

December 1, 2006

To the Snort community:

Sourcefire is announcing some changes to the Sourcefire Vulnerability Research Team (VRT) Certified Rules Subscription. These changes will make access to real-time Sourcefire VRT Rule updates affordable to every member of the community. Starting December 1st 2006, subscriptions will be priced according to a use-based model starting at just $29.99 annually for personal (home/student) use, and business subscriptions will be priced based on the number of sensors starting at $399.00 per year. The new pricing is designed to provide a fair and equitable pricing model that meets the needs and resources of the Snort community as a whole, and results from Sourcefire policy amendments impacting the release of Sourcefire VRT Rules free of charge to registered users of www.snort.org.

Beginning January 2, 2007, there will also be a change to the registered-base rule release delay period. Contractual obligations with key partners have necessitated the update of the delay period to 30 days. We understand the inconvenience that the delay presents to some registered users of Snort, but going forward, the new pricing model will help us to ensure key partner support and that the Sourcefire VRT can provide the highest levels of research to the Snort community.

Sourcefire will continue its commitment to and investment in Snort^® and the open source community. These changes only affect Sourcefire VRT Certified Rules. Snort® is and will continue to be free. The Sourcefire VRT will continue its support of the community rules which will continue to be available free of both fees and registration. Some other changes that you’ll see in the coming months will include upgrades to www.snort.org that will increase the usability of the site and improve knowledge transfer between community members, additional support for the growing number of local users groups, and the continuation of the annual Snort Scholarship program.

Subscription Q&A

Why is Sourcefire making the pricing change?
Sourcefire has had to change its delay policy for the release of Sourcefire VRT Certified rule updates to registered users. The delay has been expanded to 30 days. Because of this change and Sourcefire’s commitment to the open source community, Sourcefire has drastically reduced the subscription price in order to make it affordable to everyone that wants to use VRT rules. We believe that by reducing the subscription fee that the open source community will benefit as a whole by making real time access to the Sourcefire VRT Rule set affordable for everyone.

Why the change in delay?
The Sourcefire VRT continually seeks out new sources of threat and vulnerability information. In some cases Sourcefire has contracted with outside providers of security intelligence. Some of these providers have required Sourcefire to release rules derived from this information only to Sourcefire customers for 30 days – after that point Sourcefire will continue to release Sourcefire VRT rules for free to registered users of Snort.org. The Sourcefire VRT is committed to delivering the most accurate, most effective vulnerability-based rules — this change enables that mission.

When do these changes take effect?
The change in pricing takes effect December 1st 2006. In order to make the transition as smooth as possible - the change in the release date of the Registered User release to a 30-day delay will take place January 2, 2007.

I just bought a subscription for personal use and would have paid a much lower price if I’d waited until December 1st.
Because of the dramatic price reduction, Sourcefire will provide a prorated refund for non-corporate users that purchased a subscription in the 60-day period before the price change.

To claim a refund please contact us at: snort-sub@sourcefire.com – Please provide a copy of your invoice or the following information if you purchased online:

Date of purchase
Price paid
Registered user email address
Contact information (phone/email address)

What does Sourcefire do with the subscription fees?
Sourcefire uses much of the proceeds to further benefit the open source community. Some of the activities that are funded by the subscriptions are support for the Sourcefire Vulnerability Research Team (VRT), the annual Snort Scholarship, support for local Snort users groups, and planned enhancements to www.snort.org.

With this change is Snort still an open source solution?
Yes Snort is still and will remain an open source technology and Sourcefire remains completely committed to open source values and philosophies. We believe that the open source model of development and distribution is the most efficient way to produce high-quality software.

Does this change affect Community Rules?
No, the Sourcefire VRT will continue to maintain the community rule set that is licensed under the GPL. This rule set is freely available and does not require registration or subscription.