Astaro Security Gateway 7.5 Provides Improved IPS Performance and Enhanced Usability

Astaro launches latest version of its flagship UTM appliance based on user feedback

Astaro Security Gateway 7.5 Provides Improved IPS Performance and Enhanced Usability

Astaro launches latest version of its flagship UTM appliance based on user feedback

Reading, UK – 5th October 2009 – Astaro (http://www.astaro.com), a leading network security vendor, announced today the release of the Astaro Security Gateway version 7.5, which includes an improved Intrusion Protection Engine, Multicast support and a real-time bandwidth monitoring capability. Using the recently released Feature Request Site, Astaro was able to focus on user feedback and suggestions to add functionality and improvements to the latest release of its Unified Threat Management product.

Version 7.5 of the Astaro Security Gateway includes over 50 new features and improvements. One of the new features is an upgraded Intrusion Protection Engine, which increases performance up to 400% by efficiently utilising multi-core CPUs. The enhanced IPS Engine now integrates detection capabilities for Microsoft vulnerabilities released under the Microsoft Active Protection Program (MAPP). This ensures a quicker and more accurate protection against new, not yet publicly released Microsoft vulnerabilities.

The latest version of the Astaro Security Gateway adds a real-time bandwidth monitor to instantly provide a detailed breakdown to show who is currently using the available Internet bandwidth. Astaro has also extended its Web Security engine with a “captive portal” to allow authentication of guest users across facilities such as hotels, stadiums and convention centres, without the need to change browser settings.
The Astaro Security Gateway version 7.5 now supports multicast routing based on PIM-SM, expanding where the ASG to be used into real-time data networking environments such as audio/video streaming, IPTV and more.

Following feedback from its customers, Astaro has added more than 70% of the most requested usability changes from users into this release. These improvements include import/exporting of lists, clone objects, scheduled updates, flush DNS cache, customisable shortcuts, deletion confirmations and will save network administrators valuable time within WebAdmin.

 Astaro has integrated customers and partners into its development process, with many of the innovative new features scoring highly through the Astaro Feature Request Site. Another source for customer feedback was the beta testing community; the beta discussion section on www.astaro.org saw more than 7000 posts placed across 1100 constructive articles.

“The Astaro ASG has won many accolades for its power and ease-of-use, and I have been amazed at the flexibility and ‘finishing’ of this newest version,” said Robert H. Alfson, MediaSoft, Inc, who took part in the beta testing for Astaro Security Gateway V7.5. “One example of this is the new button to test the timeserver settings, which was a feature requested on the new Astaro Feature Request Site.”

“The latest release of the Astaro Security Gateway was designed to improve performance and streamline the daily use of the product,” said Gert Hansen, Chief Software Architect at Astaro Corporation. “In addition to the improvements included in the 7.5 release, what makes this new version so valuable is the validation of our roadmap following the customer and partner feedback we received. With their assistance we were able to quickly evolve the usability of the product by including many small things that make the end-user administrator’s job easier.”

Customers with valid maintenance agreements will receive the V7.5 upgrade at no cost. The update function can be applied automatically via their Astaro Security Gateway.

About Astaro Corporation
Astaro offers the most complete and easy to use Internet security appliances available. Combining best of breed applications and enterprise level performance, Astaro’s award-winning products provide the latest protection with the best total cost of ownership. Software, hardware and virtual appliance offerings provide users the flexibility to meet a wide variety of deployment scenarios. Distributed by a growing worldwide network of more than 2,500 certified partners, Astaro products protect over 100,000 networks for 47,000 customers across 60 countries. Astaro, hea