SonicWALL has unveiled E-Class Network Security Appliance (NSA) E8500, a new intrusion prevention system firewall with application intelligence and control.

The company said that its NSA E8500 includes the management and control of data and applications that pass through the network and enhances threat protection with visualisation tools that offer network administrators a range of data points on applications traversing the network, including who is using them, as well as the potential security impact.

The integration of networking and remote access technologies allows SonicWALL to verify and defend the security of traditional and mobile wireless networks, users and applications and their endpoint devices, while scanning and disinfecting the data stream across platforms and perimeters. Deep packet inspection capabilities feed into the NSA E8500’s integrated Application Intelligence engine, allowing the appliance to inspect multiple connections simultaneously, the company said.

According to SonicWALL, the NSA E8500 offers intrusion prevention and malware protection against an array of network-based application layer threats by scanning packet payloads for worms, Trojans, software vulnerabilities, peer-to-peer and instant messenger applications, backdoor exploits, and other malicious code.

The application intelligence and control provides a set of granular policies per user, application, schedule or IP subnet. These policies can be used to automate application bandwidth allocation, restrict transfer of specific files, scan attachments using user-configurable criteria, control and inspect both internal and external web access and enable users to add custom signatures, the company said.

In addittion, the new appliance offers flexible deployment as either a traditional gateway or as an inline that allows administrators to keep their existing infrastructure, while adding application intelligence and control as an extra layer of network security and visibility to their network.

Patrick Sweeney, vice president of product management at SonicWALL, said: The last few years have seen a fundamental shift in working styles and practices that requires organisations to implement new policies through which they can maximise employee productivity. With the NSA E8500 we give customers worldwide the ability to control, manage and protect their global networks seamlessly and automatically.