Juniper Beefs Up Security Appliance Software
ScreenOS version 6.0, a refresh to the operating system for Juniper's firewalls and VPNs, gives organizations insight into layer 7 network traffic, and allows them to see what applications are being used and who's using them, said Sanjay Beri, senior director of product management at Juniper, Sunnyvale, Calif.
"We felt we needed to add application intelligence in layer 7 because it gives us the ability to identify and distinguish between applications being used on the network," Beri said.
The new ScreenOS release also lets companies prioritize network bandwidth for mission-critical applications, as well as set up guidelines for which apps can be used and which can't, added Beri.
Darren Patoni, CTO at The IT Workshop, a Tempe, Ariz.-based solution provider, says the new ScreenOS addresses his customers' current needs and also comes with significant future-proofing.
"[Juniper is] not just addressing what customers want, but also what they'll want in the future," said Patoni.
IDP 4.1, a new version of the OS that powers Juniper's IDP appliances, lets organizations develop and enforce security policies governing the use of network bandwidth and applications, according to Beri.
The increased visibility and policy enforcement capabilities offers better protection from security threats by giving organizations a way to quickly identify suspicious or unusual user behavior and prevent it from spreading, Beri said.
Companies of all sizes can benefit from this insight because it allows them to look more deeply into network traffic to determine which devices are propagating worms and viruses, said Beri.
Juniper is starting to embed features in the ScreenOS and IDP operating systems that make them easier for users to manage, Patoni said.
For example, a new feature of IDP 4.1 allows administrators to set up recommended actions for how to respond when an intrusion attempt is logged, right down to the application level, said Patoni.