“March 17, 2004 Internet security specialist SmoothWall Limited today announced the general availability of its enhanced internet access control module for its firewall product, Corporate Server 3.0. The latest version 3.1 of SmoothRule has been designed to control user access to the internet and includes several upgrades and new features including enhanced SMTP blocking capabilities, advanced reporting mechanisms and improved rule management.
The major enhancements in version 3.1 are:
· SMTP blocking feature SmoothRule 3.1 can block access to all external SMTP servers that are not configured in SmoothRule. This has two principal benefits. Firstly, users cannot send email via their personal email accounts and evade company controls including anti-virus. Secondly, should any PC become infected with an email worm virus it limits the further replication and spread of that virus.
· Pre-defined rule setting SmoothRule 3.1 comes with several pre-defined rule-sets to cater for common usage scenarios, such as a rule sets to block all outgoing traffic except typical Microsoft application traffic and a rule set that blocks all ports associated with a list of commonly known exploits.
· Rule grouping capabilities SmoothRule 3.1 simplifies the task of applying rule-sets to a large number of computers, greatly reducing the number of entries required.
· Advanced logging functionality SmoothRule 3.1 permits logging of blocked traffic to be enabled on a per rule basis,
permitting network administrators to reduce the volume of log file data. Selective monitoring assists in the detection of possible user abuse or malware such as worm viruses and trojans.
In many ways it is still users who pose the greatest risk to any corporate network. No matter how effective the basic firewall is, users can still inadvertently bypass controls and allow viruses, trojans and other malware to get into the corporate network, explained George Lungley, Managing Director, SmoothWall Ltd. SmoothRule prevents users from doing what they shouldnt, including non-work related abuse of their internet access by blocking activities like game playing, internet chat and potentially illegal file sharing.
Like all other SmoothWall products, SmoothRule has been designed for ease of installation and configuration. SmoothRule integrates with the Corporate Server GUI which can be accessed from any web browser. Based on a specialised security hardened version of the Linux operating system, Corporate Server is designed for use by non-specialist staff that need have no knowledge or experience of Linux.
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About SmoothWall
SmoothWall Ltd. is an internet security software provider founded in 2001 to address the void in the security market between simple feature and user limited “black boxes” and “big iron” solutions from the major security vendors. With its specialist development team, SmoothWall has harnessed the technical expertise of the Open Source arena to develop a suite of firewall, virtual private network (VPN) and content filtering security solutions for education, SME and large corporate organisations.
Based in the United Kingdom, with offices in Leeds and Southampton, SmoothWall delivers global security solutions through a worldwide support network, with representation in the USA, Canada, the Caribbean, South America, South Africa, India, Malaysia, Australia, Germany and across Europe. With a user base spanning home users, small business and non-profit organisations through schools and universities to major corporations, hundreds of thousands of networks rely upon SmoothWall protection. For more information visit: www.smoothwall.net
For further information please contact:
Craig Brophy or Sarah-Anne Bray, Wildfire PR
Tel: 01932 783838
Email: craigb@wildfirepr.co.uk”
Link: smoothwall.net
