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Stonesoft Introduces First Network Security Platform to Manage Physical, Virtual Environments and Third-party Events

Posted on: Monday, 20 April 2009, 07:00 CDT

StoneGate 5.0 Significantly Simplifies Network Security Management

ATLANTA, April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Stonesoft, a provider of proven, innovative network security solutions, today announced the general availability of StoneGate 5.0, its proactive network security management platform. As the first to integrate third-party event management, as well as many other features that significantly simplify the management of complex, dispersed networks, StoneGate 5.0 marks a major advancement in network security. Specifically developed for organizations with critical networks and managed service security providers (MSSPs), StoneGate 5.0 solutions enable proactive network security management while delivering the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) on the market today. In many cases, StoneGate solutions can decrease an organization's TCO by as much 70 percent.

The complexity of network security management, combined with shrinking IT budgets, is the number one threat facing network security today. According to Gartner, Inc. "more than 99 percent of firewall breaches are caused by misconfigurations rather than firewall flaws."* This is a challenge for today's large organizations which frequently have as many as 15 different security products and hundreds of devices - ranging from firewall/VPN appliances to load balancers - within its infrastructure. Because many of these devices do not work well together and must be managed across a geographically dispersed network, this can substantially increase the potential points of failure across the network. StoneGate 5.0 is a direct response to this threat.

Stonesoft is the only vendor to provide a single centralized command center for proactive control of even the most complex networks. This centralized command center - called the StoneGate Management Center - manages the entire StoneGate Platform including its firewall/VPN, IPS and SSL VPN solutions for physical and virtual environments. With the debut of StoneGate 5.0, the StoneGate Management Center 5.0 can now manage third-party device events. Additionally, StoneGate 5.0 is designed to support the growing number of MSSPs in the marketplace by offering centralized management, end-customer domains and Web portal access. These capabilities significantly streamline MSSP processes and while offering new value-added services for their customers.

StoneGate 5.0 offers a long list of groundbreaking features for large organizations and MSSPs that deliver simplified, proactive network security, reduced network management costs and more efficient auditing for regulatory compliance. A few of the new features include:

• Third-party Event Management: The StoneGate Management Center 5.0 provides the first platform for proactive network security management of entire networks, including physical and virtual environments, as well as third-party device events. This gives organizations access to real-time device monitoring, event correlation, logging and reporting of the switches, routers and security appliances from different vendors across their networks. As a result, administrators can significantly streamline troubleshooting and incident management time.
• End-customer Domains: StoneGate 5.0 enables management of different customer environments with a single management server - a major development for large organizations and MSSPs challenged by the administration and cost of managing multiple servers for each domain. Since configurations can be shared across domains, administrators can quickly make configuration changes or reuse configurations.
• Enhanced Rule-base Optimization Tools: StoneGate 5.0 simplifies security policy management through a unique set of rule-base optimization tools. With these tools administrators can easily detect unused and redundant rules and optimize rule order to enhance network and security performance. In addition, rules can be created directly from logs for faster incident management.
• Web Portal: With StoneGate 5.0, administrators and MSSPs' customers gain Web Portal access to policies, logs and reports anytime, anywhere and from any device. In addition, MSSPs can create customized user interfaces for their end-customers.
• Geographic Pinpointing of IP Addresses: StoneGate 5.0 allows organizations to see real-time visual geographical representations of network traffic to quickly spot anomalies and attacks. Coupled with StoneGate's drill-down and filtering capabilities, administrators can troubleshoot more efficiently.
• SSL Inspection for Both Client & Server Protection: Unlike most platforms that only offer either client- or server-side inspection, StoneGate 5.0 is the first to offer SSL inspection for both. This increases an organization's end-to-end network security capabilities by protecting workstations, internal networks, hosts and servers against attacks hidden inside the SSL tunnel. This capability also further ensures regulatory compliance and data loss prevention.

"Today's organizations are facing a double-edged challenge - how to improve network security with fewer resources. StoneGate 5.0 is our response. It removes the complexities that have threatened network security as we know it today. Just as importantly, the TCO reductions that StoneGate 5.0 delivers will be instrumental in helping organizations succeed in this recessionary climate," said Paul Johnson, president of Stonesoft Inc.

StoneGate 5.0's next generation capabilities have been tested by large global organizations, including Xerox Global Services and Thales Services. In addition, StoneGate 5.0 has been reviewed by many of the industry's leading authorities on network security.

"IT professionals participating in Nemertes research increasingly stress the importance of quick time-to-value for any new security or management tool," said John Burke, principal research analyst with Nemertes Research. "They want things that begin working in hours or days instead of weeks or months. They also bemoan the continuing management tool sprawl that forces them to look in twelve places to manage eleven things. Short on staff and short on time, they need tools that will let them look less and see more, simplify as well as empower."

The StoneGate Management Center 5.0 and StoneGate Firewall/VPN 5.0 appliances are currently available and the StoneGate IPS 5.0 appliances will be available in June. StoneGate 5.0 is available with both StoneGate physical and virtual appliances.

StoneGate 5.0 at the RSA Conference 2009

Stonesoft will be demonstrating StoneGate 5.0 at RSA Conference 2009, April 20-24 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Attendees and media can see StoneGate 5.0 in action at Booth #2108. For more information on StoneGate 5.0, please visit www.stonesoft.com.

About Stonesoft

Stonesoft Corporation (Nasdaq OMX: SFT1V) delivers proven, innovative solutions that simplify network security management for even the most complex network environments. The award-winning StoneGate Platform unifies firewall, VPN, IPS and SSL VPN solutions, blending integrated threat management, end-to-end high availability and network optimization into a centrally controlled system. As a result, Stonesoft provides an unparalleled level of proactive security, always-on connectivity and compliance at the lowest total cost of ownership on the market today. Founded in 1990, the company is an established leader in network security innovation with corporate headquarters in Helsinki, Finland and Americas headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, visit www.stonesoft.com.

*Gartner, Inc., Q&A: Is It More Secure to Use Firewalls from Two Different Vendors, August 12, 2008 by Greg Young and John Pescatore

SOURCE Stonesoft Corporation

Source: PR Newswire

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