Unified Threat Management (UTM) penetrates the Nigerian ICT industry
Monday, May 24th, 2010Unified Threat Management (UTM) to penetrate the Nigerian ICT industry
As SMBs and enterprises continue to yearn for managed security services, UTM has emerged as the most likely long-term solution to their ICT problems. Some of the UTM Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) sell recurrent user licenses to help reduce CapEx and TCO. This alone has attracted the interests of Microfinance Banks, Insurance companies and Start-up businesses. To the best of my knowledge, WAEC and Dangote presently use Elitecore Cyberoam UTM.
Why UTM?
A unified shield due to their multiple security features and affordable pricing, the UTM appliances have emerged as a two-way shield, for customers as well as channels. It secures the IT assets of customers and makes the businesses of channel partners recession-proof, offering them sustained sales and services revenues UTM is an outgrowth of security appliances that initially offered basic functionalities like firewall and antivirus. Today’s UTMs offer eight to 10 security features. These features are firewall, VPN security, automatic fail-over, load balancing, bandwidth management, URL filtering, intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, antivirus, and anti-spam. Since they pack so many features at a relatively low pricing, UTMs have always been targeted at SMBs and mid-market customers right since the early days. Some of the brands who operate in this category are Checkpoint, Cyberoam, Fortinet, Gajshield, SonicWALL, StoneGate, and WatchGuard.
END-POINT SECURITY
It has been years since a firewall that enforces policies based only on source-destination-service has been sufficient. Trusted end points harbor malware, are controlled by attackers, and are launching points for attacks. Network security solutions must be in-line and inspect all the traffic that passes through them. They must look for viruses, worms, exploit traffic, and even unusual behavior. IDC dubs these solutions “complete content inspection” firewalls. Many vendors refer to them as UTM, Unified Threat Management.
One aspect of a secure network that is often overlooked is that the computers on the inside of the network are often the danger. It could be an infected computer brought in by an employee or contractor, it could be a poorly patched server that has been compromised by an outside attacker. Even the smallest organizations have to invest in network security solutions to block attacks from devices on the inside of the network. This is accomplished through network segmentation and deploying content inspection capabilities internally. As threats multiply watch for solutions that either sit on top of the access switch or incorporate the switch in their configuration.
Cyberoam Authorized Partner: BCX Networks Ltd, info@bcxng.com, , +234 (0) 702 533 7980/81
Request for a demo/eval unit, test and buy.
References:
http://www.channelbusiness.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2025&Itemid=78
