Gone Phishing: Untangle Gateway Platform Delivers

The Untangle Gateway Platform is a security gateway application that brings together more than 30 open-source projects into a consolidated security offering, including antispam, antispyware, antivirus, Web filtering, firewall, VPN and intrusion prevention.

Aimed at the SMB market—particularly targeting networks with 10 to 100 users—the suite simplifies installation, maintenance and upgrades. The antiphishing component, Phish Blocker, is actually a combination of several projects, including ClamAV and Google Safe Browsing.

The customer sees one application, and Untangle can inconspicuously add or remove projects that make up the Phish Blocker.

The gateway is a graphical application that displays an empty rack and a directory of available applications. As applications are selected, a server appears in the rack, already running with the most common settings. There are some options to manage the server. Testers added Antivirus, Web Filter, Spam Blocker, Firewall and Phish Blocker--just five clicks to implement a comprehensive antiphishing solution.

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The Web filter downloads phishing lists published by others on an hourly basis and blocks user access to those sites. Phish Blocker scans all network activity to identify any phishing attempts. It can also scan SMTP e-mail to identify messages with phishing links.

Installation was very straightforward. Instead of getting a preinstalled appliance from Untangle, reviewers sourced their own Hewlett-Packard Compaq desktop with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 512 MB of memory, 80 GB of hard-disk space and two Ethernet cards, then downloaded the ISO file from the Untangle Web site. The installer verified minimum hardware requirements before installing the software. The desktop was behind the firewall and could scan all incoming and outgoing traffic. The Untangle server was installed, then the client software. Reviewers then configured the gateway at the two-paned screen with the application directory on the left and the empty rack on the right.

There are two versions of Untangle Gateway Platform—free and professional. Prices vary by the number of PCs on the network and can range from $25 a month, or $270 a year, for one to 10 computers, to $250 a month, or $2,700 a year, for more than 151 machines. Solution providers can sell Untangle three ways: as software; by installing the software on hardware and selling it as an appliance; or selling the Untangle preinstalled server directly from the company.

Partners can also offer 24-hour replacement, which backs up the server's entire configuration to Untangle's data center every night.

Revenue primarily comes from margins and installations, but MSPs can also bundle ongoing monitoring and management of the Untangle Gateway Platform as part of a larger managed security offering. MSPs can co-brand the Gateway Platform and participate in the hardware-as-a-service program. Partners and customers have access to live phone and e-mail support, forums and wikis. The Untangle server comes with a limited one-year warranty.

Untangle has three tiers for resellers and MSPs. The reseller program has Gold, which has a minimum of 10 product licenses, Platinum, 20, and Diamond, 50. For the MSP program, the license minimums are higher, with Level 1 requiring 20, Level 2 at 50 and Level 3 at 125.