Delivers on Promise of Integrated Web Application and Web Services Security;
Adds Application-Level Denial of Service (AppDoS) Attack Protection, Web
Application Performance Acceleration and Stateful Application Failover
SANTA CLARA, Calif., RSA 2005 (Booth #422), Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ --
NetContinuum, the worldwide leader in application firewalls, today announced
the 4.3 release of its popular NC-1000 Application Security Gateway product
line. With this release, NetContinuum delivers on its promise to provide the
industry's most comprehensive product for web services and web application
security in a single, powerful integrated gateway appliance. Version 4.3 also
includes significant new features that represent industry firsts and enhance
the availability, reliability and performance of enterprise-scale deployments.
These include AppDos (Application-Level Denial of Service) attack protection
provided by unique rate limiting and blocking features, stateful application
failover for web session continuity assurance, and application performance
acceleration enabled with an integrated hardware compression module.
"Version 4.3 is a significant release from NetContinuum driven by customer
demand for the highest levels of protection for both application- and
data-level threats. This combination of security, flexibility and performance
can not be found in any other product on the market today. This announcement
is another step in our strategy to continually set the bar and expand the role
of application-layer security in a market expected to hit $2B by 2009,"
commented Kurt Roemer, Chief Security Officer for NetContinuum.
Application-Level Denial of Service (AppDoS) Protection
Like network Denial of Service (DoS) attacks that are designed to
overwhelm network resources, AppDoS attacks are designed to overwhelm
application resources. An AppDoS attack either floods the application with
more requests per second than it can handle or forces it to perform intensive
computations that tie up the system. These malicious tactics can easily take
over application resources including bandwidth, database connections, storage,
memory, or thread counts -- rendering the application unavailable to
legitimate usage. Unlike network DoS attacks however, custom web applications
do not have security countermeasures for defense.
The NC-1000 AppDoS protection allows organizations to easily add an
additional layer of protection against application-layer DoS and DDoS attacks
and increase both security and application availability:
-- Unique defense system limits the requests per second for application
usage and even temporarily blocks specific clients that are attempting
to abuse the application.
-- New rate control features allow administrators to define thresholds
while maintaining full control of the application resources.
-- Intelligent algorithm automatically queues requests and provides
priority access to designated users.
Hardware Compression and Performance
A large concern for data center operators is application delivery
performance and response times to users of their web site applications.
Because these applications increasingly rely on dynamic content, conventional
caching capabilities cannot be utilized. As a result, web application
performance can be less than optimal, especially for clients relying on
dial-up connections. Industry benchmarks have indicated that a majority of web
users will abandon a web site if downloading a page that requires more than
eight seconds. Therefore, web application performance has a direct impact on
the organizations bottom line.
Implementing compression for web applications instantly allows faster
access. Until now, web application security devices lacked the ability to
read compressed data. With the NC-1000 hardware based compression card,
organizations can realize the benefits of compression without sacrificing
security:
-- State-of-art compression engine significantly accelerates application
delivery to end users
-- Saves up to 50% in bandwidth consumption
Stateful Application Failover Assurance
NetContinuum NC-1000 is the first-and-only application firewall to solve
the difficult problem of managing the failover of stateful applications with
zero impact to end users. The NC-1000's advanced stateful application failover
technology is based on the company's core Dynamic Application Protection (DAP)
technology, which maintains unique session state and context for each client
and ensures that the information is preserved and always on during a failover
condition:
-- Business transactions will not be interrupted during failover
conditions -- no loss of revenue or customer confidence
-- End user application sessions will transparently switch to an available
system without experiencing any disruption in service
-- Application providers will not have to compromise security to ensure
maximum application continuity
Pricing and Availability
The NetContinuum NC-1000 version 4.3 is currently available for early
access customers with general availability starting in March 2005. The release
will be availability as a no cost upgrade to customers with a current
service/support contract in place. The compression module will be offered as
an optional hardware component for an additional fee.
The NetContinuum NC-1000 Enterprise-Class Web Services & Web Application
Solution
NetContinuum is delivering the NC-1000 WSE as part of a strategic
partnership with Forum Systems, the leader in web services security. This
development is expected to change the landscape for application-level
security, promising customers a true best-in-class solution to address the new
wave of "hidden" XML data-level attacks without forcing them to learn, deploy
and manage yet another separate firewall device. The NC-1000 WSE includes all
features of the award-winning NetContinuum Application Security Gateway with
all features of the award-winning Forum XWall web services firewall in a
standards-based, single footprint solution with a consistent management
interface and integrated audit trail, allowing organizations to streamline
deployment times and lower administrative costs.
The NetContinuum NC-1000 Application Security Gateway is a powerful
application firewall that delivers the highest level of protection available
for mission-critical web applications. Unlike reactive signature-based
products, NetContinuum utilizes a powerful, multi-layered approach to
proactively defend against both known and unknown attack methods. The
NetContinuum NC-1000 is the only application firewall on the market designed
from the ground up with strict data center requirements in mind. Unlike
generic PC and software-based alternatives, the NC-1000 is based on a
purpose-built platform that begins with the world's most powerful security
ASIC and extends this design philosophy through the entire system
architecture. The result is an application security system that is
dramatically more robust, more reliable and more secure than any other product
in the industry today.
About NetContinuum, Inc.
NetContinuum is the leading provider of ASIC-based application firewalls
that deliver the highest level of protection available for web applications
and web services. The NetContinuum Application Security Gateway product line
drastically reduces the risk associated with doing business over the web and
is the only product on the market to pass rigorous independent certification
from ICSA Labs for protection against both network and application-layer
security threats, including data theft, cross-site scripting, SQL injection,
command execution, information disclosure and authentication bypass.
NetContinuum is listed as the most "visionary" company in Gartner's Magic
Quadrant for enterprise firewalls, named a "winner" in the rapidly-growing
application security gateway market by Yankee Group and chosen as a 2005
"company to watch" by Network Computing Magazine. NetContinuum boasts an
impressive customer base comprised of Fortune 1000 enterprises, government
agencies and service providers. For more information, please visit
http://www.netcontinuum.com or call 408-961-5600.
NOTE: NetContinuum is a registered trademark of NetContinuum, Inc. All
other trademarks, service marks and company names are the property of their
respective owners.
CONTACT:
Vanessa Miali
+1-503-380 1884
vanessa@kesselring.net
SOURCE NetContinuum, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.netcontinuum.com
CONTACT:
media, Vanessa Miali, +1-503-380-1884, or
vanessa@kesselring.net, for NetContinuum, Inc.
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