What Is an UTM Appliance?
UTM stands for Unified Threat Management.
UTMs in lay man's language are basically a collective approach to tackle the evolving threat landscape to the networks and data, through a simple to use solution.
To begin with let's define network threats.
Network threats today include Spyware, Trojans, Worms, Malware, Web exploits, Data theft, Identity theft, Viruses, Spam, Blended threats, Bots, SQL injections, Buffer overflows, DoS/DDoS attacks, Policy violations and so much more.
Defining threat in today's network landscape is not so easy, as we have threats evolving every day.
That is where we have the UTMs walking in.
UTMs have evolved from traditional firewall/VPN products and include multiple security features integrated over a single platform to make security simple, yet highly effective.
Multiple features offered by most UTM providers include:
But UTMs offer comprehensive security to organizations, ranging from large enterprises to small and branch offices by integrating network security management, user monitoring, and reporting functions - all streamlined in one appliance.
By providing comprehensive security over a single appliance, it minimizes capital and operational expense and simplifies security implementation.
Looking at the business needs, UTMs cover varying areas including:
UTM's exclusive Layer 8 technology treats user identity as the 8 Layer or the human layer in the network protocol stack, enabling organizations to overcome the limitations of conventional UTMs/firewalls which bind security to IP addresses alone.
By implementing Layer 8 security in their networks, administrators can gain real-time visibility into the online activity of users while creating security policies based on their usernames.
With newer technologies like WiFi and Virtualization, UTMs are now also available for such networks.
For WiFi enable networks such appliances allow administrators to apply security policies offering visibility over user activity in the Wi-Fi network.
For virtual networks, UTMs offer network security to varied forms of environments including virtual data-centers, "Security-in-a-Box" set-up for MSSPs/organizations, and "Office-in-a-Box" set-ups.
Based on the need and environment requirement of the networks, UTMs can be chosen.
UTMs in lay man's language are basically a collective approach to tackle the evolving threat landscape to the networks and data, through a simple to use solution.
To begin with let's define network threats.
Network threats today include Spyware, Trojans, Worms, Malware, Web exploits, Data theft, Identity theft, Viruses, Spam, Blended threats, Bots, SQL injections, Buffer overflows, DoS/DDoS attacks, Policy violations and so much more.
Defining threat in today's network landscape is not so easy, as we have threats evolving every day.
That is where we have the UTMs walking in.
UTMs have evolved from traditional firewall/VPN products and include multiple security features integrated over a single platform to make security simple, yet highly effective.
Multiple features offered by most UTM providers include:
- Stateful Inspection Firewall
- VPN (SSL VPN & IPSec)
- Intrusion Prevention System
- Anti-Virus & Anti-Spyware
- Anti-Spam
- Web Filtering
- Bandwidth Management
- Multiple Link Management
But UTMs offer comprehensive security to organizations, ranging from large enterprises to small and branch offices by integrating network security management, user monitoring, and reporting functions - all streamlined in one appliance.
By providing comprehensive security over a single appliance, it minimizes capital and operational expense and simplifies security implementation.
Looking at the business needs, UTMs cover varying areas including:
- Network Security
- Web & Content Security
- Email Security
- Application Security
- Secure Remote Access
- Logging & Reporting
- WAN Connectivity
- Data Leakage Prevention
- Managing Bandwidth
- Centralized Management
UTM's exclusive Layer 8 technology treats user identity as the 8 Layer or the human layer in the network protocol stack, enabling organizations to overcome the limitations of conventional UTMs/firewalls which bind security to IP addresses alone.
By implementing Layer 8 security in their networks, administrators can gain real-time visibility into the online activity of users while creating security policies based on their usernames.
With newer technologies like WiFi and Virtualization, UTMs are now also available for such networks.
For WiFi enable networks such appliances allow administrators to apply security policies offering visibility over user activity in the Wi-Fi network.
For virtual networks, UTMs offer network security to varied forms of environments including virtual data-centers, "Security-in-a-Box" set-up for MSSPs/organizations, and "Office-in-a-Box" set-ups.
Based on the need and environment requirement of the networks, UTMs can be chosen.
