Stonesoft Customer Newsletter
The Stonesoft Newsletter is an email publication that provides up-to-date information on new
Stonesoft products, promotions, upcoming events, case studies, and other company-related news. The
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Stonesoft Customer Newsletter Issue 3, 2008
Virtualization is the HOT topic on any IT professional’s
or CIO’s agenda. Virtualization makes it possible to deploy multiple virtual servers each running
separate operating systems and applications on one physical server. The result is more efficient
usage of existing hardware, reduced power and cooling costs, smaller data center footprints…and a
one-stop shop for hackers trying to access valuable data.
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Summary
Company News
Stonesoft in the News
- Are VM Environments Open to Attack?
- Stonesoft Continues Channel Push
- Stonesoft Security in Virtual Environments
Webcasts and Whitepapers
- Network Management: From Reactive to Proactive Mode Using Centralized Management Tools Webcast
- A Checklist for Implementing a True Centralized Management Strategy Whitepaper
Customer Stories
Product News
- Stonesoft Introduces StoneGate Virtual IPS for Granular Protection of Virtual Environments
- Stonesoft Boosts the Performance of Intranet Protection by 60%
- Virtualization Glossary
- Evaluate Stonesoft Products Today
Training News
Partner News
- Stonesoft Enters Strategic Partnership with Algeria Telecom
- Stonesoft and Digicon Create Alliance to Support Requirements for Network Security and Resilient Connectivity Solutions
- Stonesoft Partners with Wind
Company News
Stonesoft to Support VMware VMsafe™ Technology
Stonesoft will support the VMware VMsafe™ technology. By using VMsafe technology, the
StoneGate Virtual Security appliances can provide an even deeper level of visibility and
manageability to ensure the security of virtual environments.
"Our virtual StoneGate appliances use the StoneGate Management Center to provide our
customers with in-depth, real-time monitoring and management of both physical and virtual
networks," said Klaus Majewski, Vice President of Marketing at Stonesoft.
Read the whole press release from 26 August:
Stonesoft to support VMware VMsafe technology
The Strength of Stonesoft Italy
In this issue Emilio Turani, Country Manager of Stonesoft Italy, describes the strategies and
activities carried out at the Italian market and explains what is driving the success in Italy.
Q: Please outline a picture of Stonesoft´s organization in
Italy
Stonesoft serves the Italian market from two offices: one based in Milan, the heart of
finance and telecom companies, and the other in Rome, the focal point for public administration.
On July 1, Stonesoft Italy announced a new structure with two new roles: the Channel Manager
and the Sales Area Manager for northern Italy, working side by side with the Sales Area Manager for
central and southern Italy. Both roles are committed to the creation of new business opportunities
and to strengthen the existing projects. The new organization answers the company´s challenge in
Italy; to deal with continuous growth, both in terms of turnover and in terms of demand.
Also, with the launch of the new Channel Partner Program, Stonesoft focuses on channel
strategy development and realization in cooperation with its partners Magirus, Itway VAD and
Westcon.
Q: Who are the key customers of Stonesoft Italy?
Stonesoft Italy offers network security solutions to about 500 organizations, with a
particular focus on enterprises. At the moment, 1,500 StoneGate licenses have been installed, of
which 25% are used by the finance and banking sector, 25% by public administration, 35% by
telecommunications and 15% by industry and manufacturing companies. Italian companies that are
choosing StoneGate are generally looking for a solution that helps them decrease their
administration and management costs, as well as the opportunity to gain advantage through flexible
and scalable management in connecting to communication with remote offices. The main goal of
Stonesoft Italy during the next months is to expand the customer portfolio with organizations
coming from the industry and public administration sectors, which are growing rapidly and acquiring
more business opportunities.
Q: Are you satisfied with the performance of Stonesoft
Italy?
The first half of the year showed satisfactory results with a growing trend towards an
optimistic outlook for the second half of 2008. Despite the fact that the global economy, including
the Italian, is living in uncertain times, Stonesoft Italy keeps on growing and achieving its
targets in terms of turnover and profit. Since the beginning, the Italian team has embraced an
innovative approach to its customers, which is one of the winning factors of Stonesoft Italy. Also
the advanced product offering based on high-performance technology is a success factor, but the
real added-value of Stonesoft Italy is represented by the Stonesoft people that are directly
involved towards main customers, side by side with selected partners. Stonesoft Italy is able to
provide reliability, technical support, uninterrupted availability and deep experience in the
security market.
Q: What about training in Italy?
Stonesoft Italy can rely on two training centers, one based in Milan and the other in Rome.
In these centers, qualified and skilled trainers teach security technologies and the most important
features about StoneGate solutions to both partners and end-users.
Q: Last but not least, could you describe what is FIDUS?
FIDUS (Forum
Italiano Discussione Utenti StoneGate) is an Italian community, locally implemented, where users
working with StoneGate can share technical information and authentic experiences. It is a
successful initiative in terms of registered users and messages that play an important role in
increasing public awareness about StoneGate - and Stonesoft in general - as well as customer
loyalty.
Upcoming Events
Check out upcoming events here
Stonesoft in the News
LinuxInsider:
Are VM Environments Open to Attack?
"I think the key is for people to understand that the threats are all the same on virtual
and physical platforms, and without the use of virtual security solutions, it is difficult to
protect the virtual environments," Kim Lassila, Senior Solutions Architect at Stonesoft, told
LinuxInsider.
"No one in his right mind", he added", would connect a physical corporate network to the
Internet without a firewall". The same is true for virtual environments. "Servers, desktops and any
other workloads are just as vulnerable on a virtual platform as they are on a physical platform.
This is because the operating system and the software applications are the same," said Lassila.
For more on the VM environment threats, read the LinuxInsider article:
Are
VM Environments Open to Attack?
Stonesoft Continues
Channel Push
Stonesoft Security in Virtual Environments
Webcasts and Whitepapers
Network Management: From Reactive to Proactive Mode Using
Centralized Management Tools Webcast
The responsibilities of today's networking professionals have changed. It's no longer about
simple device management. In addition to the standard implementation and maintenance tasks, network
managers must now understand security, compliance, and application performance to name a few. This
is a dramatic shift towards more proactive network management versus the typical reactive,
firefighting mode of operation.
Check out this
Webcast
featuring Robert Whiteley, Senior Analyst, Network Operations & Architecture for Forrester
Research, and Matt McKinley, Senior Network Security Analyst for Stonesoft, Inc. and learn more
about:
- The trends creating radical changes in IT and network operations
- The different process and options organizations are considering to address these issues
- Recommendations for gaining more proactive control of your network management
A Checklist for Implementing a True Centralized Management
Strategy Whitepaper
Whether by force or by choice, enterprise and government organizations worldwide are
expanding and contracting at record speeds. IT leaders are expected to adjust and accommodate to
the ever-shifting landscape while finding cost-efficient ways to maintain secure, resilient
networks in both physical and virtual environments. At the core of IT operations is the strategy by
which organizations choose to administer their complex network infrastructure for optimal security,
availability, visibility and manageability.
For insights into the best network management strategy for your organization,
register
to download the whitepaper.
Customer Stories
StoneGate Platform Provides Strong Foundation for Canadian MedicAlert’s Initiatives
When Canadian MedicAlert launched its online portal and electronic Personal Health Record in 2005, the organization required a solution that could ensure constant network access. The IT staff was tasked with selecting a network security platform that met stringent specifications. After MedicAlert evaluated Stonesoft’s products, the team was immediately impressed with the comprehensive design of the StoneGate Platform, including Firewall, VPN and IPS.Stonesoft’s Multi-Link™ technology eliminated the need for MedicAlert to install a costly and complex Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) setup as the technology also supports continuous, dual-ISP connectivity from within the integrated Firewall/VPN. In the end, MedicAlert deployed Stonesoft’s Firewall/VPN and IPS appliances to support its security and network redundancy needs and to advance its e-health member services.
Read the MedicAlert case study
Read other case studies
Product News
Stonesoft Introduces StoneGate Virtual IPS for Granular
Protection of Virtual Environments
Stonesoft introduces the StoneGate Virtual IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) to protect internal
networks from malicious traffic. The release of this solution brings the granular packet
inspection and intelligent event correlation capabilities of the physical StoneGate IPS appliance
to the virtual world. The StoneGate Virtual IPS is the latest addition to Stonesoft´s
expanding virtual and physical security solutions portfolio.
"Our research indicates that most IT shops have not yet confronted the new security
challenges posed by virtualization," says Principal Analyst John Burke of Nemertes Research. “ Many
have even given up some security they had in place. In order to gain the benefits of virtualization
– increased agility, decreased resource consumption, improved disaster recovery, and so on – while
still operating responsibly and compliantly, these organizations must retool their security
infrastructures and processes to get - or regain - this lost visibility and control."
Read the whole press release from September 9:
Stonesoft
Introduces StoneGate Virtual IPS for Granular Protection of Virtual Environments
Stonesoft Boosts the Performance of Intranet Protection
by 60%
Stonesoft recently introduced the new StoneGate IPS 4.3 to boost performance by as much as
60%. With this version of its StoneGate IPS software, Stonesoft further extends its unique
inline serial clustering capabilities in its IPS appliance, allowing organizations to easily and
cost effectively add more security appliances to meet growing capacity needs.
Stonesoft realizes that technologies like VoIP and video conferencing are generating more
network traffic than ever before and organizations are struggling just to meet the bandwidth
requirements to keep systems running. With all that traffic, there is a greater chance of
vulnerability. The StoneGate IPS 4.3 is ideally suited to monitor the heaviest of traffic loads and
prevent security breaches. If an organization’s traffic load increases, the StoneGate IPS can
easily be clustered and increase performance on demand.
“A typical scenario where our StoneGate IPS stands through its flexibility and scalability
are EtherChannels between switches on the internal trunk networks. When grouping physical links to
create one logical Ethernet link to provide fault-tolerance and high speeds, security is often
compromised because firewalls cannot operate between EtherChannel links. However, StoneGate IPS is
an ideal solution for such locations. It can be installed between EtherChannel links to provide the
same access control functionalities and level of security as a firewall”, said Klaus Majewski, Vice
President of Marketing at Stonesoft.
Read the StoneGate 4.3 press release.
Virtualization Glossary
Virtualization will bring a revolutionary approach in the way we do business and even in the way we conceive information technology today. For explanations of these new virtual concepts, see our Virtual Glossary.
Evaluate Stonesoft Products Today
Interested in evaluating Stonesoft's enterprise software solutions? Register now for a
30-day free trial of any Stonesoft solution and get full access to all the features and support
during the evaluation period. We have made some of our products available for
trialware
download.
Training News
New StoneGate Management Center, Firewall/VPN and IPS
Training Courses
The structure of the StoneGate training courses has been renewed to meet our customer’s wishes
to be able to complete SMC, FW, and IPS courses in one week.
There is a new 1-day StoneGate Management Center (SMC) training course presenting the basic
features and tools for the SMC components. The SMC course is a pre-requisite for the Firewall/VPN
and IPS courses, but it can also be taken separately as an introductory course to the StoneGate
Platform. Additionally, the SMC training does no longer require a dedicated training network
environment, so that the training can take place onsite with just a laptop per student.
The length of the Firewall/VPN and IPS courses has been trimmed to two days. These two
courses include the major functionalities of the StoneGate Firewall/VPN and IPS products, including
advanced features such as clustering and StoneGate Multi-Link TM technology. The StoneGate SSL VPN
course continues with its 2-day structure and length.
The students can take a product certification exam after each course. The certification
titles are StoneGate (SMC) Administrator, StoneGate Firewall/VPN Architect, and StoneGate IPS
Architect. In addition, the title for the SSL VPN certification has been changed to SSL VPN
Architect.
All Stonesoft training sites will adopt the new training structure by the end of October
2008. Read more about the
Stonesoft training
schedule.
Partner News
Stonesoft Enters Strategic Partnership with
Algeria Telecom
Stonesoft has entered a strategic partnership with the leading national telecommunications
company Algeria Telecom. The first order related to the partnership at the value of more than EUR
700,000 was delivered to the Algerian Ministry of Healthcare in June 2008.
“Algeria Telecom is continuously investing to better adapt to our customer's needs. In
practice, this means Algeria Telecom has a strategic focus on developing and building partnerships
with leading technology providers,” said Moussa Benhamadi, CEO of Algeria Telecom.
Read the whole press release from July 8:
Stonesoft
enters strategic partnership with Algeria Telecom
Stonesoft and Digicon Create Alliance to
Support Requirements for Network Security and Resilient Connectivity Solutions
Stonesoft recently announced a partnership with Digicon, a leading IT services and solutions
firm in the Washington, D.C. area. Working together, the companies will deliver the StoneGate
solutions to U.S. government agencies that are looking for next generation solutions to ensure the
security and availability of both physical and virtual networks.
“We are excited about the potential of the StoneGate technology. It is forward thinking
and will give our team essential resources for security and monitoring devices for our clients,”
John Wu, President and CEO of Digicon noted.
Read the whole press release from August 5:
Digicon
and Stonesoft Create Alliance to Support Requirements for Network Security and Resilient
Connectivity Solutions
Stonesoft Partners with Wind
Stonesoft recently announced an expanded agreement with Wind, one of the few operators in Europe
to offer integrated fixed, mobile and Internet services.
While the partnership has been effective for several years, with the new agreement Wind will
be able to extend its sellable services featuring Stonesoft’s line of products through its Security
Operation Center.
This cooperation shows Wind’s commitment to effectively answering customer’s growing needs
for information flow protection and business continuity. Stonesoft, being the sole security vendor
able to offer an innovation solution for unified management of all security engines through single
interface, was the right partner for Wind.
Thanks to the partnership with Stonesoft, Wind will further increase its competitive
advantage, confirming its leadership in the offering of phone convergence services.
As declared by Emilio Turani, Country Manager of Stonesoft Italy: “We’re very proud of the
agreement achieved with Wind, that represents the natural evolution of an important strategic
cooperation that is completely aligned with our purposes to assure the security of converging
services and to empower the communication level.”
Tip of the Month
Do you know that with IPS you can see what servers are communicating with each other and how
much traffic they use?