Astaro 7.4 defeats UltraSurf

Biodata IT, local distributor of Astaro, indicates that competitors have been unable to manage popular SSL tunnelling programmes like Ultrasurf - portable, adaptive software applications that are used to bypass Web security policies.

Astaro's Web Security engine has been enhanced to block programs that are used to evade security policies by abusing HTTPS, a common port used for secure Web surfing. Scanning HTTPS provides the ability to deny such applications and ensure that network policy will remain intact. Blocking these applications also stops malware that can infect the network via the encrypted protocol, which gives many vendors problems.

"SSL tunnelling applications are used to surf to sites that would otherwise be blocked, and we are seeing increased use in environments like schools. Students physically bring in programs like UltraSurf on USB sticks and use it to circumvent Web security measures," explains Jan Hichert, Astaro CEO.

"The portability of such programs, combined with their use of HTTPS - which often cannot be scanned - introduces a serious security risk. Students are accessing inappropriate material, and teachers are even using these programs to surf freely in their breaks. The HTTPS URL Filtering provided by Astaro's 7.4 Web Security engine is now a necessity for a secure network."

The new filtering engine of Astaro's version 7.4 also allows users to filter and control secure Web traffic (HTTPS). With inferior Web security solutions, users can circumvent the security policy simply by accessing sites over HTTPS, which encrypts the session between the client browser and the target destination. Astaro's version 7.4 intercepts encrypted HTTPS traffic and examines the content for malware, stops spyware infections, and controls what types of sites can be accessed.

The 7.4 release also features new WAN link balancing, which combines the use of multiple Internet connections. Astaro succeeds in this area against competitors by providing the ability to balance up to eight individual connections with a single click, which automatically balances all connections. Administrators can also set specific rules for how traffic will use the connections, and the entire system provides intelligent, automatic failover in the event any of them experiences an outage. As companies seek to cut down on operating costs in a struggling economy, using multiple smaller Internet connections can grant large savings versus corporate lines, while providing redundancy.

Astaro's 7.4 release also extends its popular road warrior SSL VPN technology to site-to-site, allowing users to create permanent tunnels between Astaro Gateways. Astaro's site-to-site SSL VPN provides a simple means of permanently connecting two gateways while supplying the security level of an IPsec VPN tunnel. Version 7.4 includes many other new features and improvements that have been requested by partners and users over the past few months, such as report exports in PDF and CSV format and support for Cisco's IPsec VPN client.

Availability:

Astaro Security Gateway V7.4 is available immediately via Astaro's global partner network. Astaro customers can download the latest version at www.astaro.com. The latest release of Astaro Security Gateway V7.4 is available as a virtual appliance or software ISO, or pre-installed on Astaro's hardware appliances. Astaro Web Gateway and Astaro Mail Gateway are available on the hardware models 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000. The Web and Mail filter solutions are also available as a virtual appliance.