Cisco extends PIX Family of integrated security appliances

Additions to the family include new performance levels for broadband environments, midrange models, cost-effective high-availability solutions and broad government and industry certification.

"Every aspect of an organisation is a potential security risk, whether from internal or external threats. As such, every part of an organization must work together to form an impenetrable wall, which must be continuously extended to counter new and more sophisticated attacks," said Roger Levenhagen, Marketing Manager Cisco Systems Middle East and North Africa. "These new solutions are now available in the Middle East and will create the foundation for a robust defense strategy and help local industry and public sector organisations take full advantage of information technology and Internet business."

The new additions to Cisco's security portfolio demonstrate its commitment to companies of all sizes to deliver high-performance and scalable security solutions that protect and enhance business productivity. Elements of today's announcement address the following customer requirements:

• Small-Office/Remote-Office Solutions: Enhancements to the Cisco PIX 501 and PIX 506E offer customers using Cisco PIX Operating System (OS) Software version 6.3 an up to five to six times boost in firewall performance, and up to two times increase in virtual private network (VPN) security performance for Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) VPN environments. Through these performance gains, customers will benefit from enhanced security and improved productivity.

The new Cisco PIX 501-Unlimited model now enables unlimited user connections, providing customers with enhanced scalability and lowered total cost of ownership. Both the PIX 501 and PIX 506E cost-effectively deliver integrated security of converged data, voice, and video deployments in a single, easy-to-install and easy-to-manage solution ideally suited for teleworker and small-business environments.

• Midrange Solutions: Cisco PIX 515E and PIX 525 integrated security appliances are ideally suited for customers needing modular, high-performance, resilient security. The new PIX 515E-6FE offers integrated six ports of Fast Ethernet along with 190 Mbps firewall and 140 Mbps VPN for enhanced protection of multiple De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) and server environments requiring physical network separation. The new PIX 525-2GE delivers integrated dual Gigabit Ethernet and dual Fast Ethernet ports in a cost-effective, turnkey solution enabling more flexible deployment options in high-throughput environments.

The Cisco PIX 515E and PIX 525 security appliances directly address growing customer demand for cost-effective, high-availability security solutions that simultaneously meet certain reliability requirements with offerings starting at less than $10,000 for a complete, two-system redundant solution. These solutions significantly boost productivity and reduce operational costs for small and midsized businesses and enterprises.

• High-Capacity Solutions: The Cisco PIX 535 and Cisco Catalyst® 6500 Series security solutions now deliver among the industry's highest-performance security services, and raise the price/performance ratio for highly modular, multiple-gigabit protection in high-bandwidth environments.

The Cisco PIX 535 solution offers 1.7 Gbps firewall throughput and 440 Mbps of advanced Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES) and AES protection with high-available solutions for less than $50,000. The Cisco Catalyst 6503 and Catalyst 6506 security systems provide the most demanding network environments with 5 to 20 Gbps of highly extensible, scalable firewall protection with IP Security (IPSec) VPN, intrusion detection system (IDS), and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) upgrade options.

The Cisco Catalyst security systems also offer the highest-density LAN/WAN integration in a security solution. Customers can choose from high-density Gigabit Ethernet and Fast Ethernet modules (up to 16 and 48 ports per slot, respectively), 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports and WAN options from T1/E1 through OC-3, providing a highly adaptable solution for any network environment.

Cisco also announced today highly prestigious certification support across the entire PIX Family of security appliances. Certifications earned include the Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 4 (EAL4) certification, and both ICSA Labs firewall and IPSec certifications. These certifications provide customers with independent and objective validation that a company's product meets certain levels of quality and reliability, and are among the industry's most respected and stringent criteria for certification. Providing customers broad certification support across the Cisco PIX family within a common operating system increases operational efficiencies and lowers support and management costs.

The Cisco PIX Family delivers a multilayered defense through rich, integrated network security services including stateful inspection firewalling, protocol and application inspection, VPN, in-line intrusion protection and rich multimedia and voice security in a single device.

"Cisco's latest PIX enhancements improve its competitive position in enterprise security markets of all sizes." said Joel Conover, principal analyst, Current Analysis. Cisco's product enhancements knock down performance barriers and lower the total cost of network security for Cisco customers. Cisco leads the pack with its extensive protocol support and broad array of integrated security features for advanced protection of business applications and services."