Local network channel provider Westcon has signed two new partners, providing access to an increased range of security products.
The company will now distribute products from Fortinet and Vasco, says Westcon product manager Mouritz Snyder.
"Fortinet offers intrusion detection, anti-virus and content filtering services, while Vasco`s focus lies in strong authentication."
Snyder believes the new offerings will further increase Westcon`s penetration into the lucrative IT security market.
According to an International Data Corporation study, the market was valued at R912 million in 2002, but is expected to increase to R1.9 billion by 2007.
Vulnerabilities remain the key cause of new attacks on the global market and this shows no sign of decreasing, says Fortinet regional director Jonathan Mepsted. Companies have been hesitant to invest more in IT security because of a low return on investment, so the main aim for security vendors must be to provide a low-cost, high-performance product, he explains.
"Fortinet does not charge a licence fee per end-user, so this can equate to significant savings over time, especially in larger organisations. Also, we proxy content as it would be delivered and search it for anything malicious. I think that if you can scan code at the same point as decrypting it, then that will add a lot of appeal to the consumer."
For more specific authentication needs, Westcon will offer Vasco`s Digipass solution. Authentication is often a trade-off between user-friendliness and security, says Vasco area sales manager Luc Vanhecke.
"You can either have one or the other. High security levels mean your password needs to be changed constantly, and it is a hassle for people to keep up to date, and the reverse is also true."
The Digipass token allows users to generate a random password, which the computer will also recognise. This way the system operates at a high level of security, but user-friendliness remains high for the end-user, says Vanhecke.
The token can be integrated into existing infrastructure, so users do not need to scrap existing systems, and can last in excess of two years despite daily use. Vanhecke say the tokens will be available by December.
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