Calyptix Security Corp. Updates Firewall Firmware with AccessEnforcer 4.0

Calyptix Security Corp., maker of the AccessEnforcer UTM Firewall, today announced a revolutionary update to the firewall’s firmware – the most significant update in nearly 10 years.

AccessEnforcer Version 4.0 brings new features, a simplified management interface, and rapidly accelerated page-load times for critical network security services in the firewall’s interface, including the Network Alerts and Live Connections pages.

Many security services in AccessEnforcer have been redesigned and re-created from scratch in Version 4.0. Users can expect improvements to the interface, with more emphasis on clean and well-organized features and displays. 

Version 4.0 is also the first AccessEnforcer release to adopt AccessEnforcer Core API, a new platform created Calyptix engineers.

Major updates in AccessEnforcer Version 4.0. include the following:

• Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDS/IPS) – New rule sets to protect network traffic, and added ability to refine categories and specific rules. Ruleset policies are also a new feature, allowing administrators to automatically apply rules to prioritize connectivity, security, or a balance of the two.
• Reporting – The firewall’s reporting engine is all new. Administrators can create reports on the fly, or schedule them to automatically generate daily, weekly, or monthly. Reports can also auto-send to a given list of email addresses, and they can be exported in both PDF and CSV formats.
• Live Connections – The new Live Connections page loads about 10-times faster than the previous version. Administrators will also love the ability to search live connections and quickly view the top bandwidth users. Overall, the page is simplified compared to previous versions, and WHOIS data is also available on any destination IP with the click of a mouse.
• Network Alerts – Also redesigned and recoded from scratch, the Network Alerts service loads about 10-times faster than previous versions. Administrators can also apply bulk actions, selecting one or more alerts and choosing to add them to a whitelist or blacklist, or disable their corresponding IDS/IPS rule. Alerts are also easy to sort and “live updates” can be enabled to see alerts as they are recorded.
• Quality of Service (QoS) – Yet another firewall service re-created from scratch, the bandwidth-management features allow administrators to create bandwidth cues and assign traffic to them for prioritization or bandwidth modeling. Additional options are also added for allowing traffic bursts and establishing bandwidth minimums and maximums.
• Static Whitelist and Blacklist – Several features added to these critical firewall services will help administrator save time. Lists can be imported and exported to either list in a CSV format. Lists can be easily filtered, and notes can be added to any list entry for easy labeling and referencing. 

Many other improvements – including bug fixes, and improvements to the firewall’s HTTPS web filter and Multi-WAN functionality – are included in the release. 

All AccessEnforcer Firewalls check nightly for updates and apply new firmware releases automatically. The updates to AccessEnforcer 4.0 have begun in the field and will gradually reach all AccessEnforcer Firewalls with an active service subscription.