Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Conflicker Worm Update

A recent development regarding the Conficker virus has been detected, where it is now directing infected machines to download new, harmful files, thus activating the botnet. Here’s how this new behavior works:

Conficker sends out email spam without the PC owner’s knowledge. In addition, Conficker uses pop-ups to warn of PC infection and offers fake antivirus software, called 'SpywareProtect2009' at a price of $49.95. If purchased, credit card information is stolen and the virus downloads even more malicious software.

If you encounter a pop-up like this, do not click on the pop-up at all - not even to close the box. To remove the pop-up without infection, open your Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Delete), and end the task from your Browser (Explorer, Firefox, etc.). You should take additional precautions to ensure you are not already infected and have adequate protection:

• Keep your Operating Software up-to-date
• Learn more about Conficker
• Invest in a high-end security product

Monday, May 04, 2009

Sonicwall TZ210 UTM Appliance

The SonicWALL TZ 210 Series of network security appliances eliminates firewall performance bottlenecks while delivering unsurpassed Unified Threat Management (UTM) protection. Unlike other vendors’ solutions, the SonicWALL TZ 210 offers both protection and performance without compromise. The TZ 210 and TZ 210 Wireless-N deliver unmatched stateful packet inspection speeds of up to 200 Mbps, dramatically improving network performance and allowing you to get the most out of your network investment. The improved performance enables SonicWALL’s patented Deep Packet Inspection technology to inspect and ruthlessly eliminate viruses, spyware, and other threats. The TZ 210 provides a full range of firewall capabilities in an easy-to-manage solution that can adapt to standalone or distributed configurations. Like more than a million other SonicWALL appliances protecting businesses around the world, each TZ 210 delivers reliable, cost-effective network protection and performance.

Protection - Keep your network safe from threats
Performance - Remove the network performance bottleneck
Flexibility - Fits into any small or distributed enterprise organization
Ease-of-Use - Easy to set-up, operate and manage
Business Continuity - Failover, failback and more

Protection
Deep Packet Inspection Engine - A configurable, high-performance deep packet inspection engine for extended protection to key Internet services such as Web, e-mail, file transfer, Windows services and DNS

ICSA-Certified Stateful Packet Inspection Firewall - Industry-recognized standards for enterprise-class firewall protection, ensuring the integrity and validity of each connection, packet, source and destination

Comprehensive Security - Supports SonicWALL’s suite of security services including Gateway Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware, Intrusion Prevention Service, Enforced Client Anti-Virus, Content Filtering Service and Global Security Client.

SonicWALL PortShield - The SonicWALL PortShield architecture provides the flexibility to configure port level security for the LAN, providing protection not only from the WAN and DMZ, but also between devices inside the LAN.

Performance
High-performance Architecture - Utilizing the advanced processing technology found in the SonicWALL NSA Series, the TZ 210 delivers throughput speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

Wireless (802.11b/g/n) - Supports the 802.11n standard which is over five times faster than the current status quo of 802.11g.

Gigabit Interfaces - Includes 2 Gigabit Ethernet Interfaces and 5 Fast Ethernet interfaces to deliver bottleneck-free network performance.

Flexibility with Control
Wireless Guest Services - Create user accounts for occasional guest users such as consultants and contractors that permit wireless connections to the Internet without providing access to the corporate network.

Multiple Zones for Different User Types - Create multiple zones of access for different user types, providing an unprecedented level of control without compromising the security of the network.

Time-based and Group Policies - Create security policies that can be enforced according to pre-defined schedules. Specify start and end ranges on an individual or group policy basis, offering more granular network control. Create and assign security policies to a large number of users with minimal effort, simplifying User Level Authentication for Internet and VPN access.

Virtual Private Networking - Enable secure site-to-site VPN connections with IPSec-based connectivity. For secure remote access, both SSL VPN and IPSec VPN clients are included enabling gateway enforcment, centralized management and configuration flexibility in managing and securing remote workforce network access.

Ease-Of-Use
Set-up and Management - An innovative Web interface utilizes a comprehensive suite of easy-to-use configuration and management wizards designed to guide you through the set-up of common network configurations (e.g., public server wizard, VPN wizard, NAT wizard).

Integrated auto-MDIX Ports - An integrated 5-port auto-MDIX switch automatically and transparently detects and corrects incorrectly wired cables such as cross-over cables, making network installation substantially simpler and less expensive.

Comprehensive Central Management Using SonicWALL GMS - SonicWALL’s award-winning Global Management System (GMS) provides network administrators with the tools for simplified configuration, enforcement and management of multiple global security policies, VPN and services for multiple system, all from a central location.

Business Continuity
Failover and Failback Technologies - Ensures continuous uptime for IPSec VPN tunnels by failing over to a wireless WAN connection should the broadband connection fail. Once the broadband is re-established, the TZ 210 fails back, providing the best connection speed possible.

WAN Redundancy and Load Balancing - Configure a secondary WAN port, delivering highly reliable network connectivity and robust performance. This secondary WAN port can be used in “active-active” load sharing or failover configuration providing a highly-efficient method for maximizing total network bandwidth.

ISP Failover - Ensure continuous uptime for Internet and IPSec VPN connectivity by failing over to a second ISP link should the primary link fail. Through ISP failover, the TZ 210 delivers highly reliable network connectivity for constant access to critical data.