Firewall and UTM

Unified Threat Management (UTM) has truly emerged & how. It has become a commonplace term for all those interested in the security of any IT infrastructure. These devices promise integration, convenience and protection from pretty much every threat out there -- and are especially valuable to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Xpress offers a range of Firewalls & UTM solutions from various vendors such as Cyberoam, fortinet, Watch guard & others. Our services include pre-sales consulting, supply, Deployment & custom configurations, after-sales support.

ADOPTION DECISIONS

So should you turn off your existing equipment if you have one, and move to these new platforms? Yes. Your choices are pretty straightforward: continue to renew the maintenance on your existing device(s), or buy something new. Given the competitive nature of the UTM market, out-of-pocket costs may be comparable to upgrading to a new device.
-And for the business houses that have not got one already, this newsletter should help them check-out a UTM for themselves. The enumerated benefits are by now obvious and very much in their interest.

UTM – An Overview

The term Unified threat management (UTM) refers to a comprehensive security product that

includes protection against multiple threats. A UTM appliance typically includes a firewall, virtual private network, gateway antivirus, antispam, web content filtering, intrusion detection & prevention, as well as centralized management, monitoring and logging capabilities in a single integrated package – all these functions which were previously handled by multiple systems. Some of the well-known UTM vendors include Cyberoam, WatchGuard, Fortinet, Sonicwall, McAfee, Zyxel, Netgear, etc. with varying feature sets and capabilities.

Apart from being an integrated, all-in-one solution - the other principal advantages of UTM are simplicity, streamlined installation and use, and the ability to update all the security functions or programs concurrently. As the nature and diversity of Internet threats evolves and grows more complex, UTM products can be tailored to keep up with them all. This eliminates the need for systems administrators to maintain multiple security programs over time.

Evolution of UTM

The network security business has evolved rather incrementally over the years, largely driven by threats -- as opposed to thoughtful architecture. First there was the token authenticator, designed to protect all of those crazy employees dialing up into a remote-access environment.
Then as direct connections to the Internet hit widespread deployment in the mid-90s, there was a need to protect those connections with firewalls. But firewalls were rather unsophisticated devices, so products that could detect an attack pattern (intrusion detection) came into vogue. Subsequently we've seen gateway antivirus, antispam, web content filtering, anomaly detection, web application firewalls and a host of other new products emerge to stop very specific threats.

All of these products have different management consoles, none work together, and most are marginally effective. And most SMBs don't have extra people or currency lying around to maintain the status quo.

PROTECTION AGAINST SOPHISTICATED ENEMY

The evolution of traditional network security practices into comprehensive Unified Threat Management solutions brings with it a level of protection never before available to corporate & SMB networks. As sophisticated network threats appear with increasing frequency, this integrated, multi-layered security approach, provides the strongest one-stop protection for any growing network infrastructure.

Firewall and UTM

UTM – An Overview

Reference PDFs