With the introduction of stateful firewalls, and latterly deep packet inspection, attacks on networks - and indeed the applications which reside on them – have increased in variety and complexity. Most of these attacks have become automated and seek to exploit vulnerabilities in network configurations, application backdoors and human behaviour. Security is not a one off fix, it’s an evolving process and as such, a business’ ability to manage the variety of attacks will depend on the physical and financial resources available to them.

Protecting your business...
To this end, Circle IT partner with both WatchGuard (Firebox X) and Cisco (ASA) in solving the security conundrum. Both vendors consolidate multiple threat management technologies into one device and one management solution, helping businesses reduce cost, simplify management and maintain the highest level of security available to them.

Unified Threat Management (UTM) the way forward...
UTM is the term used to describe firewalls that have multiple features in a single device, such as anti spam/virus filtering, an intrusion detection (or prevention) system, and Web content filtering, along with the traditional activities of a firewall. Watchguard and Cisco both offer UTM bundles with thier products which is why Circle IT always recommend these solutions.

Why use UTM???
UTM bundles consolidate multiple applications into one common platform, so rather than have 5 different servers/devices for each of these features a single firewall with a UTM bundle will suffice. For SME Businesses UTM solutions are easier to implement, manage and more cost effective.