Sophos XG Firewall improves network visibility with Synchronised App Control

Sophos has announced the latest version of its next-generation Sophos XG Firewall that delivers a breakthrough in network traffic visibility.

Using Synchronised Security to obtain information from the endpoint, XG Firewall can identify, classify and allow the control of all previously unknown applications active on the network, such as those which don't have signatures or are using generic HTTP or HTTPS connections. Synchronised App Control on XG Firewall can reduce the security risks associated with unidentified traffic by allowing administrators to see exactly what is on their network.

Rob Ayoub, research director, IDC Security Products, commented: "The latest version of the Sophos XG Firewall represents a significant improvement in network application visibility, especially in regards to unknown applications. It's an innovative solution to an industry-wide problem that has been getting increasingly challenging over time."

Synchronised App Control will automatically associate discovered applications with appropriate categories where possible, and administrators can assign unknown apps to categories that will block or prioritise them as desired. Interactive application reporting provides deep insight into daily traffic activity.

In a recent Sophos study, IT professionals admitted about 60% of network traffic is unknown, and the security risks associated with this tops their list of concerns.

"Sophos can identify this traffic because the endpoint knows exactly what applications are running and it can share this data with the firewall through the Sophos Security Heartbeat. Synchronised App Control has improved visibility and increased the IT administrator's ability to proactively manage network traffic. This new technology is a game-changer for the IT professional who is no longer prepared to accept the gaps and blind-spots that standalone firewall and endpoint solutions have created in their environments," says Brett Myroff, MD of Sophos distributor Netxactics.

Sophos XG Firewall is available for on-premises and cloud deployment, on all the major virtualisation platforms as well as through the Microsoft Azure marketplace. Both Sophos Endpoint Protection and the next-generation anti-ransomware solution, Intercept X, will provide the XG Firewall with the Synchronised Security data required for this new level of traffic identification.

In addition, Sophos has introduced new XG Series hardware appliances that provide a modular system for connectivity with a wide variety of integrated connectivity and FleXi Port modules. The addition of two fail-safe bypass port pairs on-board every 1U appliance and an optional bypass FleXi Port module for all 1U and 2U XG Series models, plus optional power over Ethernet (POE) modules make it easy to enable Synchronised Security in any environment.