New Feature Request Site Provides Astaro Partners and Customers with a Forum

Suggestions made on site confirm the roadmap for version 7.5 of the Astaro Security Gateway. Astaro Corporation , a leading network security vendor, today announced that the company has improved its feature request process by creating a web service for suggesting features and improvements. Version 7.5 of the Astaro Security Gateway will include features suggested by partners and customers using this new tool. The inclusion of suggested features in the upcoming release of the Unified Threat Management product demonstrates Astaro’s commitment to servicing customers' network security needs.

Astaro created the new feature request site to offer partners, customers and employees an outlet for suggesting features and improvements for future releases of Astaro’s security products. Visitors to the new site can also vote on the suggestions of others, contributing weight to the urgency and popularity of a feature request. Astaro uses this feedback to appropriately plan future product releases and updates.

Some of the most requested features confirmed the product roadmap for version 7.5 of the Astaro Security Gateway and are already available in the beta version of the product. Some of these features include; real-time bandwidth monitoring, vastly increased IPS performance on multi-core installations and captive portal as well as many other additions and improvements.

"When evolving our products we listen closely to our market and ensure what we add is what they require," said Angelo Comazzetto, Product Manager, Astaro Corporation. "We believe our partners and end users have the best perspective when it comes to what features they require to solve their problems, and this is how we improve our products. We not only value their input, we welcome any suggestions that would benefit our customers and partners. This is why we set out to create an easy way for everyone to submit, track and gain visibility into the feature request process vs. our competitors. Ultimately, it is the customer who uses our products, so who would be better to ask for how it could be improved?"

Astaro Secures And Connects Hannoush Jewelers's Network

Jeweler reduces administrative costs by managing the network from a single location
and eliminating malware using the Astaro Security Gateway.

June 1, 2009 (Wilmington, MA) – Astaro Corporation (http://www.astaro.com), a leading network security vendor, today announced that Hannoush Jewelers Inc., a jewelry manufacturer and retailer headquartered in Massachusetts, with remote offices across the United States, has deployed The Astaro Security Gateway, eliminating malware at locations with content filtering and connecting all 70 of its remote locations to the company's headquarters through encrypted VPN tunnels.

Hannoush Jewelers needed to create VPN tunnels to connect their dispersed network of retail franchises and business offices. The jewelry manufacturer and retailer was able to create VPN tunnels at all of their remote locations within minutes using the Astaro Security Gateway. The ease of setting up the networks and connecting them via VPN tunnels makes it possible to immediately add locations to the company's network and secure offices and franchises as they are brought online.

"Our retail stores and business offices are distributed across the country, so it is necessary to connect our network using VPN tunnels. We needed a solution that would accommodate our many locations and provide us with content filtering at many of our sites," said Gary Savard, Systems Administrator, Hannoush Jewelers. "The Astaro Security Gateway provided the VPN capabilities we needed and provided us with stable and flexible content filtering options."

Hannoush uses the Unified Threat Management’s content filtering capabilities at strategic locations. The content filtering capabilities allowed Hannoush to block access to harmful websites eliminating malware at these locations, reducing the amount of time administrators devote to cleaning out individual computers, saving the company valuable man hours.

The frequent product updates provided by Astaro means that Hannoush's network is always protected from the latest security threats. Additionally, Hannoush is able to manage the entire network from a central location at the company headquarters with the Astaro Command Center.

Savard continued: "The Astaro Command Center provided me with a means to manage the entire network myself, without having to be present at each remote location. Having a network administrator at each location is cost prohibitive so having the Astaro Command Center made it possible for us to meet our network’s goals."

"We understand network security requirements are always evolving so we make it a priority to offer product updates as frequently as possible," said David Rogers, Vice President Americas, Astaro Corporation. "Also, when a network is as distributed geographically as Hannoush's, new challenges arise when securing the network. We work with customers to meet their needs, whether it is setting up VPN tunnels or creating unique content filtering rules at multiple locations."

To Purchase Astaro Products visit http://www.astaroguard.com

Astaro Corporation Announces Availability of AWG and AMG as Virtual Appliances

Virtual appliances enable Astaro partners to offer security solutions in a Software as a Service environment.

May 18, 2009 (Wilmington, MA) - Astaro Corporation, a leading network security vendor, today announced the availability of the Astaro Web Gateway and Astaro Mail Gateway as virtual appliances. This alternative implementation model consumes fewer resources and reduces administrative costs. Additionally, the virtual appliances enable Astaro partners to offer their customers the Astaro Web Gateway and Astaro Mail Gateway in Software as a Service (SaaS) models.

Astaro is offering its Astaro Web Gateway and Astaro Mail Gateway as virtual appliances to help organizations take advantage of the cost savings associated with this deployment method while continuing to protect their networks from spam, viruses, phishing and other malware.

Virtual appliances allow users to consolidate platforms and decrease the administrative costs associated with running multiple machines. Virtual appliances can be managed by one person, rather than a team of administrators, require fewer servers and thus less energy to run, further reducing an organization’s costs and creating a greener network. Because virtual appliances are not tied to specific physical hardware they can provide instant disaster recovery in case of an outage on one machine.

In addition to the traditional benefits of implementing products in a virtual environment, the virtual appliance model enables Astaro partners to offer their customers the Astaro Web Gateway and the Astaro Mail Gateway in a SaaS environment. Partners simply deploy the products as virtual appliances on their own hardware and then deploy a clone of the virtual machine for each customer, providing them with the e-mail and web security they require. SaaS deployments offer users the same solutions as on site deployments, without the burden of managing the solution.

"We are able to get our Astaro Web Gateway and Astaro Mail Gateway customers up and running in minutes using the SaaS deployment method," said John Boudreau, Vice President, Micros Northeast. "As organizations continue to look for ways to reduce costs, being able to offer a SaaS deployment of an award winning security product is a huge competitive advantage."

Astaro Corporation has been a certified virtual appliance partner of VMware for the past five years and has offered the Astaro Security Gateway as a virtual appliance for several years. Astaro security products run within the VMware environment and take advantage of existing hardware to allow organizations that are standardizing on virtualization to use Astaro to meet their security needs.

"Astaro consistently looks for innovative ways to benefit our partners and users. We offer our products as virtual appliances so that our users can benefit from reduced hardware expenditures and because virtual appliances are ideally suited for managed security services," said David Rogers, Vice President Americas, Astaro Corporation. "The ability to use this deployment method as a way to offer our solutions in a SaaS environment is yet another example of the how our partners and users benefit from Astaro’s security expertise."

The Astaro Web Gateway provides integrated URL filtering, malware detection, instant messaging and peer-to-peer application control, as well as bandwidth optimization to completely secure web access. Other key features include HTTPS, HTTP, FTP scanning, dual antivirus engines, active directory/e-directory integration, clustering capabilities and provides SMBs with a comprehensive solution for web security.

The Astaro Mail Gateway combats the myriad security risks of email communication. It features high-capacity filtering with a patented anti-spam engine and dual virus scanners, S/MIME and PGP encryption, and message management. Users can also manage individual quarantines and black/whitelists, reducing administrator load.



To Purchase Astaro Products visit http://www.astaroguard.com

Archdiocese of New Orleans Improves Network Security with The ASG

Single point of management increased IT department's productivity while strong content filtering and firewall protect students.

May 11, 2009 (Wilmington, MA) – Astaro Corporation (http://www.astaro.com), a leading network security vendor, today announced that the Archdiocese of New Orleans doubled their bandwidth, increased productivity, reduced administrative costs and successfully secured their network using the Astaro Security Gateway.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans is the oldest diocese in the United States. They manage networks at schools and Catholic charities as well as elderly assisted living facilities and selected Astaro’s Unified Threat Management platform to improve their network security at over 150 locations.

"Since implementing The Astaro Security Gateway we've been able to keep 30,000 people, including students, safe from the dangers of the Internet while increasing productivity in our IT department," said Robert Cochran, Network Administrator, Archdiocese of New Orleans.

With schools and businesses all on the same network, the Archdiocese was especially concerned about strong content filtering capabilities and the capacity to customize security at each location. The built-in and customizable filtering profiles feature in the Astaro Security Gateway took the burden of creating filtering rules off of the organization’s IT department and allowed the Archdiocese to create flexible content filtering based on location groups - providing the required increased filtering at schools. Additionally, blocking unproductive and undesired websites at business locations helped double the organization's available bandwidth.

Using the Astaro Security Gateway, the Archdiocese of New Orleans manages the security for all 151 locations through a single office, reducing network administration and energy costs. Astaro's graphical user interface also saves the organization time and increased productivity as the IT department spends less time managing the security system.

After reviewing several security solutions, The Archdiocese of New Orleans chose to implement The Astaro Security Gateway because of its strong content filtering and firewall capabilities.

Cochran continued: "The key feature that attracted us to the Astaro product was the firewall. It was far superior to the SGS 5400 we tested. We also liked Astaro for its ease of use, affordability and our initial comfort with the solution right out of the box."

"Organizations are realizing that network security is more than protecting networks from becoming exploited by the latest security threat. Security solutions can also increase productivity and reduce administrative costs if deployed properly," said David Rogers, Vice President, Astaro Corporation. "The Archdiocese of New Orleans's success using The Astaro Security Gateway is an excellent example of how organizations can deploy network security and increase their productivity in addition to protecting their network from malicious content and materials."

To Purchase Astaro Products visit http://www.astaroguard.com

Astaro Provides Increased Conficker Worm Protection

Update to Astaro Security Gateway protects against variants A and B of pervasive virus

April 13, 2009 (Wilmington, MA) - Astaro Corporation (http://www.astaro.com), a leading network security vendor, today announced increased protection against the Conficker Worm via the Astaro Security Gateway product line. The newly added Intrusion Protection Rules are designed to protect networks from the common variants of this damaging virus.

The Conficker Worm uses a variety of methods to infect systems and spread across networks, including HTTP downloads and TCP and UDP transfer of payload. Though the hype surrounding the April 1st Conficker epidemic has passed, the threat of infection from this powerful worm still exists.

Customers using Astaro's HTTP Virus protection from the Astaro Security Gateway subscription have been protected against the HTTP download distribution method since January. However, in order to help existing and future users avoid contamination from the Conficker Worm's various infection techniques, Astaro has added two new Intrusion Protection Rules. The updates will identify and cease code execution of Conficker variants A and B, effectively protecting systems from infection. Additionally, network administrators can search for Conficker attacks in their system to determine if an attempted attack has occurred.

"Because security threats often arise suddenly it is essential that Internet security providers react quickly. One of Astaro's development advantages is the ability to evolve and respond to current and sometimes sudden threats," said Angelo Comazzetto, Product Manager, Astaro Corporation. "Our users automatically receive pattern Up2Dates like the Intrusion Protection Rules to protect their networks from threats as they arise."

Astaro Security Gateway integrates complete Network, Web and Mail Security through an intuitive browser-based user interface. The Astaro Unified Threat Management appliance is the most easy-to-use and cost-effective all-in-one solution available, working to effectively shield businesses from internet based threats every day.

To Purchase Astaro Products visit http://www.astaroguard.com

Astaro Awarded 2009 Everything Channel Five-Star Partner Program Guide Certification

Astaro Partner Program recognized as exceptional by leading Channel authority

April 10, 2009 (Wilmington, MA) - Astaro Corporation (http://www.astaro.com), leading network security vendor, today announced it has been recognized by Everything Channel as one of North America's top information-technology (IT) vendors for its Astaro Partner Program.

The Astaro Partner Program was awarded a Five-Star certification in Everything Channel’s 15th annual 2009 Partner Program Guide (PPG), acknowledging its commitment and strength of its programs for reseller partners which include IT integrators, technology solution providers, and consultants. A list of PPG winners appeared in the March 30 issue of CRN magazine, the channel industry's leading publication, and online at www.Channelweb.com, the world's largest channel industry portal.

Research for the 2009 Everything Channel Partner Programs Guide and the Everything Channel Five-Star Program was conducted by Everything Channel's Institute for Partner Education & Development (IPED). IPED analyzed 130 vendor programs rating vendors' responses to nearly 60 in-depth questions about their partner programs in the six elements of sales support, marketing support, partner profitability, channel operations, communications and partner recruitment. To ensure fair comparisons, companies were placed in one of four categories based on company size. IPED weighted the responses to each question about such program elements as sales support and partner recruitment so that the total weight given to a vendor's answers in any of the six elements can potentially be scored as high as 100. The weighting scheme varies depending on the company size and product type and is based on IPED proprietary analysis methodology and intellectual property. In each of the four company categories, the companies with the highest overall weighted scores received the Everything Channel Five-Star Program designation.

"Now more than ever, the quality of a vendor's partner program determines how profitable its partners will be. So for their commitment to their partners, and their efforts to build quality programs, we congratulate this year's Five-Star Partner Program Guide winners for helping to drive greater revenue in the channel," said Robert C. DeMarzo, senior vice president and editorial director, Everything Channel.

"At Astaro we've created a 100% channel centric approach through our Astaro Partner Program which offers full sales support as well as additional sales opportunities through the company's support services; including access to sales and marketing tools via Astaro's Partner Portal," said David Rogers, Vice President at Astaro, "Receiving a Five-Star certification from Everything Channel's 2009 Partner Program Guide is a testament to Astaro's commitment to the success of our partners."

Astaro's complete product portfolio and partner program are poised to meet the demands of a growing business market with an increasing numbers of customers. Astaro partners enjoy high sales margins and additional incentives and promotions that help them reach even higher profit margins. Astaro Security Gateway integrates complete Network, Web Security and Mail Security through an intuitive browser-based user interface. The Astaro Unified Threat Management appliance is a cost-effective "all-in-one" solution working to effectively shield businesses from Internet based threats.

To Purchase Astaro Products visit http://www.astaroguard.com

Astaro Command Center 2.0 Improves VPN Capabilities

Management appliance allows for central configuration and maintenance of IPsec VPN tunnels.

March 24, 2009 (Wilmington, MA) - Astaro (http://www.astaro.com), leading network security vendor, today announced availability of version 2.0 of its Astaro Command Center. This new version of the popular management tool adds the ability to centrally configure and maintain IPsec VPN tunnels, increased performance for working with hundreds of devices, and a new role for multi-user permissions.

The Astaro Command Center creates a "throne-room" from which to manage multiple Astaro Gateways, including Astaro Security Gateway, Astaro Web Gateway and Astaro Mail Gateway. Provided completely free of charge in its software or virtual versions, the product easily consolidates the current status of multiple Astaro products into a single dashboard. The Command Center offers the ability to schedule product update installations across multiple devices, monitor resource usages, get license information and detailed per-installation statistics, as well as access the WebAdmin for any connected Astaro device.

Astaro Command Center 2.0 adds a new configuration feature which allows administrators to build IPsec VPN tunnels directly from within the Command Center itself, saving significant deployment time. Administrators simply follow the Wizard-driven interface and select from the prompted parameters, and the resulting VPN will permanently join devices together to share printers, transfer files, and run programs, all over a securely encrypted link.

"We have received many requests from our partners and end users requesting the ability to build IPsec VPN tunnels with the Astaro Command Center," explains David Rogers, VP of Sales at Astaro. "This new feature means that organizations with numerous VPN tunnels can easily rebuild them from their 'throne room' rather than spend hours, perhaps even days, building them manually."

Astaro Command Center also includes a dual-portal system with full user management features, allowing partners to offer managed security services for multiple companies through the same management appliance. These companies can all connect to the same Command Center server, which allows the creation of multiple user accounts with specific device visibility and permissions to separate customers into secure groups of devices.

As the economy continues to decline and IT threats continue to climb, the demand for managed services is on the rise. Ron Harmon, President of Celerit Solutions and Astaro Partner, explains, "Managed security services are something that customers are looking for and auditors are telling them they need to have….The Astaro Command Center is what allows us to offer services with our security."

Astaro Command Center is presented in the same graphical user interface (GUI) as the Astaro Gateway Version 7 WebAdmin, which allows for quick implementation and a short learning curve. The product can be used to manage installations of Astaro’s Security, Web, and Email Gateway appliances, software and virtual machines, and is itself available as a hardware appliance, a software ISO, or a Virtual Machine.


To Purchase Astaro Products visit http://www.astaroguard.com

Astaro Supports Obama Plan for 21st Century Schools and Libraries

Free security software and central/remote management for all educational organizations.

March 5, 2009 (Wilmington, MA) - In response to President Obama's promise to modernize schools and provide Internet to all children, Astaro (http://www.astaro.com), a leading vendor of Internet security appliances, announced the "Surf Safe" promotion: all K-12 schools and libraries will receive an unlimited Astaro Security Gateway software license for free with the purchase of either a 3- or 5-year web or mail security subscription and maintenance agreement. Additionally, all schools and libraries will receive free Astaro Command Center software, which allows for central and remote management of all Security Gateways school- and district-wide.

In a nation-wide address this past December, then President Elect Obama promised to modernize and upgrade schools, providing computers and Internet access for every student. Obama stated, "Here, in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have a chance to get online. And they'll get that chance when I’m president because that's how we'll strengthen America's competitiveness in the world."

While President Obama wishes to see Internet access for every child, Astaro can make sure it is delivered safely and securely. The web gives students access to unlimited information, and content filtering and anti-spam are essential elements of a successful Internet experience. Additionally, many web-based applications, such as Instant Messaging and Peer-to-Peer programs, must be blocked or highly managed to ensure the best and most educationally productive access to Internet resources. Email is also a sensitive area for educational organizations, because privacy and confidentiality are critical, especially when student information is sent over the Internet.

Astaro Security Gateway's Web Filtering provides integrated URL filtering, malware detection, IM and P2P application control, and bandwidth optimization to completely secure and control web access. Additionally, the software provides perimeter security services, such as a firewall and intrusion protection, and Astaro’s Email Filtering is also available to provide anti-virus, spam blocking, protection against phishing, and free email encryption.

Astaro Command Center enables the administration and real-time monitoring of multiple Astaro Security Gateway appliances deployed school- or district-wide, which means administrators can achieve the highest standards of vigilance and protection of their schools' security at all times and from all locations. Additionally, teachers that wish to protect their home networks with Astaro can download the Astaro Security Gateway software for free (http://tinyurl.com/FreeAstaro). The school network administrator can then manage it along with the rest of the Security Gateways from the Astaro Command Center.

Through the "Surf Safe" promotion, all K-12 schools and libraries are eligible to receive free Astaro Security Gateway software and an unlimited base license with the purchase of a 3- or 5-year web security or mail security subscription, as well as a maintenance subscription. Additionally, each educational organization will receive free Astaro Command Center software.

"We are excited to be part of this monumental push to modernize the country's schools and provide children with the technology they need for a proper education," explains Jan Hichert, Astaro CEO. "President Obama's plan is a tremendous opportunity for American students, and we want to make sure that schools have the right resources in place to ensure smooth integration of new technology in the classroom."

To Purchase Astaro Products visit http://www.astaroguard.com

Astaro 7.4 Defeats UltraSurf

Latest version of Astaro balances multiple Internet connections and scans encrypted content.

February 26, 2009 (Wilmington, MA) - Astaro (http://www.astaro.com), leading vendor of network security appliances, today announced the availability of version 7.4 of its Astaro Gateway product offering, including Astaro Security Gateway, Astaro Web Gateway and Astaro Mail Gateway. Including HTTPS URL Filtering, WAN link balancing and site-to-site SSL VPN capabilities, version 7.4 boasts more than 200 new security features and upgrades.

Competitors like SonicWall have been unable to manage popular SSL tunneling programs like Ultrasurf--portable, adaptive software applications which are used to bypass web security policies. Astaro’s Web Security engine has been enhanced to block programs which are used to evade security policies by abusing HTTPS, a common port used for secure web surfing. Scanning HTTPS provides the ability to deny such applications and ensure that network policy will remain intact. Blocking these applications also stops malware that can infect the network via the encrypted protocol, which gives many vendors problems.

"SSL tunneling applications are used to surf to sites that would otherwise be blocked, and we are seeing increased use in environments like schools. Students physically bring in programs like UltraSurf on USB sticks and use it to circumvent Web Security measures," explains Jan Hichert, Astaro CEO. "The portability of such programs, combined with their use of HTTPS — which often cannot be scanned — introduces a serious security risk. Students are accessing inappropriate material, and teachers are even using these programs to surf freely on their breaks. The HTTPS URL Filtering provided by Astaro’s 7.4 Web Security engine is now a necessity for a secure network."

The new filtering engine of Astaro's version 7.4 also allows users to filter and control secure web traffic (HTTPS). With inferior web security solutions, users can circumvent the security policy simply by accessing sites over HTTPS, which encrypts the session between the client browser and the target destination. Astaro's version 7.4 intercepts encrypted HTTPS traffic and examines the content for malware, stops spyware infections, and controls what types of sites can be accessed.

The 7.4 release also features new WAN link balancing, which combines the use of multiple Internet connections. Astaro succeeds in this area against competitors by providing the ability to balance up to eight individual connections with a single click which automatically balances all connections. Administrators can also set specific rules for how traffic will use the connections, and the entire system provides intelligent, automatic fail over in the event any of them experiences an outage. As companies seek to cut down on operating costs in a struggling economy, using multiple smaller Internet connections can grant large savings vs. corporate lines, while providing redundancy.

Astaro's 7.4 release also extends its popular road warrior SSL VPN technology to site-to-site, allowing users to create permanent tunnels between Astaro Gateways. Astaro's site-to-site SSL VPN provides a simple means of permanently connecting two gateways while supplying the security level of an IPsec VPN tunnel. Version 7.4 includes many other new features and improvements that have been requested by partners and users over the past few months, such as report exports in PDF and CSV format and support for Cisco's IPsec VPN client.
To Purchase Astaro Products visit http://www.astaroguard.com