SonicWall, a leading provider of intelligent network security and data protection solutions, has launched new control capabilities for its next-generation firewall product lines.

The new release SonicOS 5.8 enhances its existing application intelligence and control capabilities by integrating a real-time application visualization dashboard and analysis tools, enabling IT managers to visualize all application traffic and determine application bandwidth consumption based on real-time information, a statement said.

Administrators can immediately control and allocate resources for critical applications and users to drive productivity, while blocking or controlling inappropriate activities. All controls operate on specific applications rather than trying to rely on generic port or protocols often used by stateful packet inspection firewalls.

“Firewalls have traditionally been a binary block/allow model. Stateful inspection firewalls can only control ports and IP addresses, so there is no context for what is in that Web session,” said Greg Young, vice president of research at Gartner.

“Intrusion prevention systems can spot malware, but application control in next-generation firewalls can limit or control applications such as social media, and with granularity controlling which activities within a social media are allowed, and can allow critical applications get the bandwidth they need," he added.

SonicWall application intelligence, control and visualization utilizes a continuously expanding database consisting of over 3,000 applications and leverages SonicWall’s Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection (RFDPI) technology for low latency, high performance deployments.

SonicOS 5.8 also offers significant enhancements to its existing next-generation firewall security and malware protection capabilities.

Recognizing the constantly expanding volume, frequency and sophistication of threats, SonicWall’s next-generation firewalls utilize extra-firewall intelligence including the SonicWall Global Response Intelligent Defense (GRID) Network enabling real-time threat adaptability and mitigation of over 3.7 million and growing threats.

“With SonicOS 5.8, we can for the first time fully visualize application traffic on our network, including bandwidth utilization per user,” said Erin Desko, chief technology officer at BGMX Retail Solutions, a provider of PCI-compliant IT services for grocery chains.

“The visualization capabilities let us see where we’re wasting time and money, while at the same time keeping security front and center in our operations,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service