phion launches new releases: netfence 4.2 and entegra 2.0

Published 13th January 2009

Latest release includes SSL-VPN and numerous new functions...

phion AG today announced the availability of phion netfence release 4.2 and phion netfence entegra 2.0. Numerous functions have been added to the new releases including SSL-VPN. Further enhancements include support for 802.1s authentication by netfence entegra as well as functional improvements to the phion management centre.

“The new netfence release marks another large step for us along our roadmap”, comments Klaus Gheri, CTO and co-founder of phion. “The new features integrated into this release make a real contribution, allowing our to solution continue to set standards in terms of security and availability as well as efficient management. Proof of our innovative strength is also the classification in the ‘Visionary Quadrant’ in the latest market analysis for enterprise firewalls by market research company Gartner,” continues Gheri.

netfence entegra 2.0: Clientless entegra & 802.1x Port Authentication
When used in combination with the new SSL-VPN, entegra can access corporate resources even without a complete client installation. Access to network resources can be set up quickly for guests if required. The new entegra release also supports 802.1x authentication, the respective port on the corresponding router/switch is only activated subsequent to successful authentication and health check. Only then is the client awarded physical access to the protected network.

Improved traffic intelligence
The traffic intelligence concept has also been enhanced. Up until now administrators have only been able to delegate different internet traffic (such as email, ERP, bulk) via different connections, but now they can direct the same traffic across different connections. Thanks to this ingenious load balancing for VPN transports the available connection resources can be used more efficiently than ever before.

Enhancements to the phion management centre
With the Audit Info Viewer, phion netfence 4.2 offers a new feature which allows you to view all debugging and traffic information for all gateways centrally. This means that connection problems in complex network environments can be diagnosed and rectified extremely quickly. The Audit Info Viewer only needs a fraction of the time required when compared with running a diagnosis via the log files or the access cache for each individual gateway.

A further addition is an overview of all virus scanner versions on all devices managed via the phion management centre. Detailed information about the respective active antivirus engine, antivirus pattern file as well as the latest successfully implemented update can now be checked quickly.

Availability
The new releases are available with immediate effect. Please refer to the phion website for an overview of the sales partners: http://www.phion.com/INT/channelpartner/partner_overview/Pages/default.aspx
* Gartner’s ‘Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Network Firewalls’ November 2008.