Former Microsoft Exec Mangione Shows Up At Lockdown Networks

Gordon Mangione, a former Microsoft security and database exec, has re-surfaced.

He's on the board of advisors for Lockdown Networks, a Seattle company specializing in network-access control. And, he is advising Ignition Partners, a VC firm stocked with such former Microsoft luminaries as John Connors, Richard Fade, Richard Tong, and Brad Silverberg.

Mangione, who had risen to corporate vice president of Microsoft security products group after 14 years at the company, left last November, citing a desire to work with a startup.

"I ran into the Lockdown folks through Ignition. They're innovative and in the right market. I can help them get a deeper relationship with Microsoft including on NAP," he said. NAP is Microsoft's developing Network Access Protection effort.

Mangione said Lockdown's offers a user-friendly way to assure that potentially infected or otherwise unsafe devices do not get onto networks.

"This works with the gear you have today where Cisco's idea is to pull up a couple of truckloads of new gear. That's not palatable for most companies. We'll work with the switches you have and use VLANs to allow or not allow access," Mangione said.

Lockdown's security will send the user to Windows Update or the appropriate anti-virus sites.

Cisco is pushing its Network Admission Control or NAC strategy to secure networks.

While Lockdown's appliance runs Linux, a priority will be to assure interoperability with Microsoft's infrastructure, Mangione said. The company plans to demonstrate that at Interop next month.

Lockdown, based in Seattle, employs about 50 people and was founded in 2001.