Visualize going through airport security .
You step up to one guy who scrutinizes your boarding pass and license.
Once he waves you by, you"re immediately stopped by a rent-a-cop with a
metal detector. Passing the scan without clicks or beeps, you"re clear
to walk 4 feet before a bag-check line halts your progress. Then you
wait as guards search someone"s grandmother for explosives.
That reality is similar to what happens to a packet when it enters a heavily secured network.
With an increasing number of systems inspecting traffic for
unauthorized access, malware, attacks, data leakage, spam, and more,
there"s a lot of credential checking and scrutinizing going on--and a
lot of cash being spent on multiple security devices. Replace all those
checks and searches with a multifunction entity empowered to move you
directly from the curb to the plane, and you have the concept of
unified threat management, or UTM.
UTM products are available for all sizes of networks. Though they"re
predominantly associated with small and midsize enterprises, sales
range from very small networks to very large, dispersed organizations.
Distributed enterprises will want to deploy multiple UTM products, and
that means management issues.
Fortunately, most vendors support platforms for administering a
far-flung network of UTM devices and for integration into existing
security suites. While it was no surprise that larger companies with an
established security presence, including Check Point Software, Cisco
Systems, IBM, and Juniper Networks, integrate UTM devices into their
overall security portfolios, we were pleased to see some vendors
without larger comprehensive security suites, including Astaro,
Cyberoam, Fortinet, Secure Computing, SonicWall, and ZyXel, also making
sure to address multiple device management and security technology
integration. For a comprehensive rundown of UTM offerings, including
price and capabilities, download the comparsion chart.
Speaking of cost, one interesting facet of the UTM market is that a
number of appliances integrate open source components under the hood.
This approach has certainly benefited consumers by producing many
lower-cost appliances that encourage competition. On the flip side,
however, you need to watch for changes in GPL licensing.
|
