McAfee Strengthens WebShield

The security vendor on Monday unveiled WebShield 3.0, software suited for McAfee's line of gateway appliances, the McAfee e250, e500 and e1000.

Version 3.0 improves upon earlier releases by enabling network administrators to manage multiple appliances through a single interface. The upgrade also lets administrators automate the enactment of security policy by "farming out" policy from one McAfee appliance to groups of others, said Mick Paddington, senior product marketing manager at McAfee, Santa Clara, Calif.

The McAfee appliances provide tools for antivirus protection and for content scanning from a strategic position in front of a network's mail server. Optional antispam protection is also available.

Pricing for WebShield 3.0 software is based on the number of user seats and the grade of appliance being used. Software to outfit 100 nodes with the $1,700 e250 appliance starts at $1,480. Software to outfit 1,000 nodes with the $7,699 e500 starts at $11,470. Software to outfit 10,000 nodes with the $12,588 e1000 starts at $60,000.