WatchGuard Releases Update to Heuristic Zero-Day Protection Engine

Unified Threat Management (UTM) Technology Leader Enhances its Advanced Threat Detection Capabilities

New Delhi-October 1, 2007-WatchGuard® Technologies, Inc., the technology leader in unified threat management (UTM) solutions, today announced the release of a new POP3 proxy to its zero-day protection engine, giving users of the Firebox® X Core™ and Peak™ UTM appliances another tool in the fight against network threats. WatchGuard’s heuristic zero-day protection engine proactively guards against malicious attacks, including zero-day threats, in which the vulnerability or virus has not yet been discovered. The added POP3 proxy provides POP3 level gateway protection, essentially putting a virtual watch guard at the email gateway monitoring for suspicious activity based on a programmed set of acceptable protocols, and taking aggressive action against unwelcome traffic.

“By understanding the various classes of attacks, WatchGuard’s Firebox UTM solutions provide reliable protection on a very broad level against whole families of threats,” explained Norbert Kiss, Vice President, Asia Pacific. “Several thousands of new threats are launched each year, most of which use techniques that are closely related, and statistically predictable. It is rare that an entirely new class of attack emerges. By recognising and neutralising threats at the gateway, the WatchGuard Firebox appliances provide instantaneous protection that doesn’t require a signature or patch to be applied before receiving the benefit of security.”

Unlike with standard anti-virus email scanners, WatchGuard’s new POP3 proxy is not limited to just scanning for threats based on the currently available signature set. The proxy scans traffic passing through the gateway allowing only activity which conforms to acceptable protocols. Programmes that execute outside acceptable protocols are disallowed entry to the network, effectively incapacitating the attack. By providing an engine that proactively identifies and eliminates threats before they have been discovered en masse, WatchGuard is able to offer users of its Firebox X UTM appliances true zero-day threat protection – an ability that the other major UTM appliance vendors currently lack.

"With the other major UTM appliance vendors currently lacking a proactive threat detection and elimination capability, WatchGuard has a distinct advantage in the marketplace," said Kiss. "WatchGuard recognises the need for virus specific security measures and we do employ them as one part of our overall security solution. We also recognise that signatures provide only a reactive solution, leaving networks exposed until the exploits are identified and patched. This does not constitute true zero-day protection. As more CIOs and CTOs become aware of this fact, they realise their networks are serving as guinea pigs for the anti-virus signature industry."

The POP3 proxy update to WatchGuard’s zero-day protection engine was made available today as part of a larger release to WatchGuard’s Fireware® operating software for their Firebox X Core™ and Peak™ UTM appliance lines. In addition to enhancing WatchGuard’s zero-day protection engine, the Fireware 9.1 update introduces a robust set of function enhancements and management features to give network administrators more options for managing the security of their installations, such as a quarantine capability for spamBlocker, virus scanning for FTP and POP3 traffic, and unlimited file size scanning for AV.

About WatchGuard Technologies Inc.
Since 1996, WatchGuard has been providing reliable, easy-to-manage security appliances to hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide. Our Firebox X family of unified threat management (UTM) solutions provides the best combination of strong, reliable, multi-layered security with the best ease of use in its class. All products are backed by LiveSecurity® Service, a ground-breaking support and maintenance programme. WatchGuard is a privately owned company, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and has its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters in Singapore, with other offices in Hong Kong, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.watchguard.com.

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Certain statements in this press release, including statements about expected new products, services, features or functionality and other statements about our plans, objectives, intentions and expectations are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the time the statements are made and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected or implied by the forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements for many reasons, including the risk that expected new products, services, features or functionality are not available when expected or at all and the other risks described under “Risk Factors” in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2006, and in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings from time to time. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release.

WatchGuard, LiveSecurity, Fireware, Core, Peak, and Firebox are either registered trademarks or trademarks of WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact:

Milton Singh / Aman Chopra
finesse PR
+91-11-43056200
milton@finessepr.com / aman@finessepr.com

Aman Chopra
Account Executive
finesse PR - the communication & people consultancy
181, Anand Vihar, Pitampura
Delhi 110034, INDIA
Telefax +91 11 43056200 (30 Lines)
Direct +91 11 43056212, Mob: 09891669322
mail: aman@finessepr.com
URL: www.finessepr.com

Since 1996, WatchGuard has been providing reliable, easy-to-manage security appliances to hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide. Our Firebox X family of unified threat management (UTM) solutions provides the best combination of strong, reliable, multi-layered security with the best ease of use in its class. All products are backed by LiveSecurity® Service, a ground-breaking support and maintenance programme. WatchGuard is a privately owned company, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and has its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters in Singapore, with other offices in Hong Kong, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.watchguard.com.

This release was published on openPR.