IBM updates eNetwork firewall
The new version of the firewall bundles three modes of security protection in one piece of software.
Version 3.2 provides not only application proxies and packet filtering--the two most common firewall architectures--but also adds support for Socks version 5 gateways as well. The Socks gateway was developed in partnership with Aventail, a virtual private network company.
The new version will be available on both Windows NT and AIX, IBM's version of Unix. In the NT firewall, Socks version 5 allows easier support for streaming media applications such as Microsoft's NetMeeting or Real Networks' RealAudio and RealVideo that support the user datagram protocol (UDP).
The NT version also supports a "hardened" operating system for the firewall by removing unnecessary elements of the operating system, a measure designed to reduce configuration errors and eliminate security holes.
For both AIX and NT, the new versions will include a security management console from Security Dynamics and two SecurID tokens, used for strong authentication to check the identity of a security manager. IBM and Security Dynamics announced a partnership in January.
Both versions also support eight translated languages, including French, Japanese, Korean, traditional Chinese, and simplified Chinese. They also offer centralized administration of firewalls from a remote machine. IBM also is adding a training module for the Windows NT version, complementing an existing training program for the AIX firewall.
Pricing for both versions of the software begins at $2,500 for 25 users. Trial copies of both are available at IBM's Web site.
IBM also will continue to resell the Check Point firewall.