FORT LEE, N.J., July 7, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Whale Communications(r) today announced that it has extended its application aware modules beyond the leading email offerings to include an additional 20 business-critical enterprise-class applications.
The SSL VPN vendor's e-Gap(r) Remote Access Appliance is enabling enterprises worldwide to provide employees with laptop-free access to the corporate Intranet from any browser without jeopardizing the security or privacy of the data or company's network. Whale's commitment to security has led to the development of application-aware modules that enable it to intimately know the application's behavior. By doing this, unique security measures can be put in place to meet the varying behaviors of diverse applications, which leads to increased functionality without compromising security.
"In addition to providing access to virtually any application, we are continuing to focus on our product vision to develop out-of-the-box modules that are intimately aware of leading enterprise-level applications," said Lior Kohavi, Whale's VP of Research and Development. "With this granular knowledge of the applications we are able to provide the highest level of security. We know how to seamlessly authenticate to these applications, automatically select the appropriate connectivity options per application and to disable caching of the application's specific data on the client system."
With more enterprises opting for SSL VPNs, industry analysts are noting that strong security and application awareness are becoming make-or-break criteria for enterprise-class SSL VPN solutions.
"As the SSL VPN market matures it is becoming clear that security is becoming a decisive factor for enterprises when choosing to adopt the remote access technology. This has started to differentiate the players and those that are not meeting the security demands will be pushed out of the SSL VPN marketplace," said Richard Stiennon, Vice President of Research in Gartner Research.
"The winners will capitalize on major opportunities for user, device and application-aware security capabilities and advanced administration tools that streamline the enforcement of sophisticated security policies," said Dana Hendrickson, President of Breakaway Marketing, a network research firm.
The application aware modules include:
-- Email (e.g., Web Access: Microsoft(r) Outlook(r) Web Access (OWA), Lotus iNotes, Lotus Domino WebMail; Client Access: Outlook, Outlook Express, Lotus Notes client)
-- Advanced Collaboration and Web Conferencing (e.g., Lotus Sametime, Lotus QuickPlace)
-- File Access (e.g., Novell Netware, Microsoft Windows)
-- Terminal Services (e.g., Citrix, Microsoft Terminal Services)
-- Host Connectivity (e.g., Telnet, SSH client, IBM 3270 Host on Demand)
Availability
The newest application aware modules will be available in the e-Gap Remote Access Appliance's latest version which is now being beta tested and will be generally available next month. Pricing starts at $23,000.
About Whale Communications:
Whale Communications, the leading enterprise-class SSL VPN vendor, is enabling companies to provide employees and partners secure access to corporate data and applications from any web browser. Its award-winning solutions have been securing enterprises worldwide since it was founded in 1998. Privately held, Whale is funded by prominent venture firms and industry leaders, including Goldman Sachs, Soros Private Equity Partners and the BRM Group, the founding investor of Check Point Software Technologies. The company is headquartered in Fort Lee, New Jersey and has international offices in Israel and Germany.
Whale Communications, e-Gap, Whale and the Whale logo are trademarks of Whale Communications Ltd. All other trademarks are property of their respective holders. For more information about Whale visit: www.whalecommunications.com.