Secure Computing Unveils Hybrid Firewall

June 26, 2002 -- Network access control solution developer Secure Computing Corporation (SecureComputing.com) announced on Tuesday that it has introduced ongoing service and support programs for its GauntletT and SidewinderT customers, as well as a plan for its next generation firewall/VPN.

Secure says it became a leading in hybrid high-security firewall/VPN supplier when it completed its acquisition of the Gauntlet firewall and VPN business from Network Associates in February. In the four months since, Secure has merged the Sidewinder and Gauntlet engineering and marketing groups and the new combined team has completed its next generation technology roadmap.

In determining what Sidewinder and Gauntlet firewall customers want in their next generation firewall, Secure says it held meetings with key industry analysts and its largest enterprise and government Gauntlet customers, as well as contracting an outside firm to conduct market research.

The company says it has dedicated extensive resources to ensuring that Gauntlet customers see a smooth migration path to the next generation product. Customers with current Gauntlet and Sidewinder products will be fully supported into 2004, giving them time to plan and evaluate the migration.

According to Secure, developments in the next generation of its firewall/VPN technology will focus on four key areas, including a firewall-appliance family using features from Gauntlet and Sidewinder as well as many new features combined into one code base, integrated into the SecureOST operating system with Type EnforcementT technology; administration enhancements using the Gauntlet Global Enterprise Management System; Multi-Gigabit performance, validated in Secure’s new performance lab; and hybrid high-security firewall design with embedded anti-virus and new methods for handling DoS attacks.

"By bringing together two of the finest firewall engineering teams in the world to enhance and merge these technologies, we have created a plan for our next generation firewall and VPN with outstanding manageability, hybrid packet-inspection to application-level proxies, outstanding price and performance and uncompromised security," said Mike Gallagher, vice president and general manager of the network security division at Secure Computing.