Network Associates Inc (NAI) has shipped version 5.0 of the Gauntlet Firewall it inherited from its February 1998 merger with Trusted Information Systems Inc. Available for Unix and Windows NT, the new versions of Gauntlet feature the company’s Adaptive Proxy and Active Security technology. Active security lets Gauntlet communicate with other security and management products on the network when suspicious activity or critical vulnerabilities are discovered.
As for the adaptive proxy, the company explains that while proxy- based firewalls like Gauntlet are in theory more secure than the packet filter-based alternatives, they take a significant performance hit. NAI says its adaptive proxy technology has been designed to maintain the security of traditional application proxy firewalls while being able to adapt packet flows on the fly for better performance.
Gauntlet Firewall 5.0 is available now, either as a standalone product or as part of a suite. Existing customers get upgrades free under NAI’s subscription pricing model. NAI also announced that Microsoft Proxy Server 2.0 will be integrated with the company’s active security product family.
The announcements were made at the stadium formerly known as the Oakland Coliseum, which the company would now like everyone to refer to as the Network Associates Coliseum. After four years and $4.1m, 3Com Corp still hasn’t managed to prevent stubborn San Franciscans from calling their local stadium Candlestick Park.
