Astaro Releases Security Gateway Version 8.2

Security Gateway version 8.2 includes over 60 other enhancements or features, including support for 3G/UMTS USB modems.

Astaro, provider of unified threat management solutions, announced the availability of version 8.2 of the Astaro Security Gateway.

Chief among the over 60 new features or enhancements in version 8.2 are Application Control (Next Generation Firewall), Interactive Web Reporting and a new authentication agent, according to Astaro, a Sophos company. The new features and enhancements are designed to improve network performance while providing increased visibility and control over the network.

Security Gateway version 8.2 includes over 60 other enhancements or new features. These include support for 3G/UMTS USB modems, form hardening for Web application security, Web filtering safe search enforcement, enhanced virtualization support, increased IPS performance by up to 250 percent, SNMP v3, weighted balancing for WAN Uplink and server load balancing, group-in-group support for network groups, SSID (service set identifier) to Access Point assignment, rebootless reconfiguration of Access Points and VPN performance increases.

"As technology changes, so too must the tools organizations use to control their networks," said Jan Hichert, senior vice president of network security at Sophos. "With version 8.2, we once again ensure our customers can face current and future network and security challenges by offering the next generation of firewall technology: application control."

Some of the other features include Astaro's Application Control, which improves network visibility, blocks unwanted applications and empowers IT administrators to prioritize bandwidth usage. This information can then be used to make educated decisions that will have the most impact on the business-molding their security policy to precisely fit how their company uses the Internet. The new engine is up to 100 percent faster than the IM/P2P control engine in previous versions.

In addition, the enhanced Interactive Web Reporting tool provides administrators with an upgraded user experience tailored toward how they expect to see data and toward the information they are looking for. Administrators will be able to save customer filters and subscribe to periodical mail reports.

Finally, the Authentication Agent allows administrators to authenticate users by name instead of IP address to provide increased control over access in profiles and make reports easier to read.

The new features and enhancements in version 8.2 are engineered to provide small and midsize businesses with the resources they need to meet the ever-changing challenges of securing a business network. The increased control and visibility will allow organizations to make better decisions based on the company's unique needs and network usage trends, the company said in a statement.

In addition to the new features available in version 8.2 of the Astaro Security Gateway, the newest edition of the company's unified threat management solution also includes a technical preview of Astaro's upcoming Log Management product. It is integrated into Astaro Security Gateway, and users will be able to try it out for free.