On this topic Newsletters Security Strategies. DOS attacks White Papers Firewalls NetScreen is introducing NetScreen 500, a fast VPN box that can secure major corporate sites and whose firewall can take on the role of individual departmental firewalls, streamlining security management. NetScreen 500's firewall can be configured to enforce 25 separate policy profiles, essentially acting as independent firewalls for different groups within an organization. NetScreen calls these segments virtual systems, and they can be established with the NetScreen 500's VPN policies as well as its firewall policies.
Virtual systems allow the restriction of access to network resources.
This makes it easier for companies that want to secure segments of their networks from certain internal user groups, according to Martha Young, a research director for analyst firm Enterprise Management Associates. Traffic destined for individual virtual systems would be sorted by NetScreen 500 and mapped to the appropriate virtual LAN port on a LAN switch. Application service provider Nupremis, a beta tester of NetScreen 500, says this capability also lets it segment individual customers on the same device. This is a more efficient use of processing power and space than buying individual firewall appliances for each customer, or in the case of a corporation, each department, says Aaron White, chief security officer and CTO for Nupremis. NetScreen 500 is well-suited to corporate networks or sites not using Gigabit Ethernet to access protected segments, according to Dave Kosiur, an analyst with The Burton Group.