Barracuda Networks Inc., a provider of cloud-connected security and storage solutions, has enhanced its next-generation firewall products to improve support for transparently redirecting traffic, which allows easier integration between discrete firewall and web security appliances.
The new transparent redirect feature, available on both the Barracuda NG Firewall and Barracuda Firewall, enable the next-generation firewall products to hand off web traffic to the Barracuda Web Filter without inline connections.
By deploying next-generation firewall and web filtering as separate appliances, states Barracuda, organizations enjoy the performance benefits of independently scaling fast packet inspection and full web proxy functions, each of which has a different latency profile. As a full web proxy, the Barracuda Web Filter offers a number of more advanced security functions, including content policy alerting and advanced granular reporting.
Barracuda recently announced enforcement for Safe Search on major search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.) and YouTube for Schools with the latest version of Barracuda NG Firewall designed for large, multi-site school district deployments. The company is extending those capabilities and adding Safe Search and YouTube for Schools support with the latest version of Barracuda Firewall, designed for smaller, single-site, K-12 organizations.
Additionally, Barracuda Web Filter now includes an improved application engine for more advanced accuracy and detection, enabling application visibilities for organizations with legacy Layer 3/Layer 4 firewalls. This new engine introduces control for hundreds of additional protocols and applications to the Barracuda Web Filter’s application database.
“Many organizations, particularly schools, carefully consider the choice of consolidating or separating their firewall and web filtering solutions as they balance their security needs, performance requirements, and existing infrastructure,” says Stephen Pao, GM Security, Barracuda. “The recent enhancements made to Barracuda’s firewall and web security products allow education customers to deploy best-in-class web security architectures, either integrated as a feature of their next-generation firewalls, or integrated as discrete firewall and web security appliances.”
Transparent redirect, YouTube for Schools, and Image Safe Search with Barracuda NG Firewall is available now with version 6.1 and higher. Transparent redirect, YouTube for Schools, and Image Safe Search with Barracuda Firewall will be available in July 2015 with version 6.8 and higher. The new application engine with Barracuda Web Filter is available now with version 9.0 and higher. To learn more about Barracuda’s security solutions, visit http://cuda.co/edugrowth.
