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Verizon Business to Manage All-in-One Security Devices to Help Global Enterprises Defend Against Threats
January 2008 by Marc Jacob
To help companies around the world better defend against the rising number of security threats, Verizon Business will monitor and manage a range of products that combine numerous critical security functions into a single piece of equipment. The offering, known as unified threat management (UTM), was announced and is immediately available in the U.S. and in many countries in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
UTM offers businesses an efficient approach to security and is particularly well-suited for mid-sized businesses and remote locations within an enterprise. UTM provides companies with a multifaceted defense against a range of network security threats and includes firewall protection, detection and elimination of viruses and spam, content filtering, intrusion prevention and intrusion detection.
As more organizations cope with the inherent security risks associated with doing business in an extended enterprise environment, Verizon Business’ UTM offering also can help protect data flowing across partner, supplier and customer networks.
These new managed service capabilities from Verizon Business will initially be delivered across two UTM platforms – Cisco ASA (Adaptive Security Appliances) and the Juniper Networks Secure Services Gateway (SSG) Family.
Outsourcing Monitoring and Management of UTM Devices
Verizon Business works with enterprise customers to identify where UTM devices fit into their overall security architecture and which capabilities will best protect their businesses. Customers can elect to have Verizon Business not only monitor, but also manage selected UTM services.
Verizon Business monitoring services enable it to determine the health of customer security devices while monitoring the communications infrastructure for threats that might impact the customer’s business. Security incidents are handled actively by Verizon Business, which specializes in root-cause analysis and provides on-the-spot recommendations for remediation.
For those customers choosing to out-task management of UTM devices as well, Verizon Business can provide remote management of the platform, operating system and software for the devices. Verizon Business will update the rule-set, or policy, of the customer’s security devices and will review every change request for its potential impact on a company’s overall security posture.
By out-tasking support of these inherently complex devices to Verizon Business, enterprises can control deployment and operational costs while strengthening their overall security. Outsourcing to Verizon Business also helps to decrease the need for resource-intensive in-house expertise. It can be difficult for businesses to supply such expertise for all the security functions that touch UTM, such as firewall, virtual private networking and intrusion protection services.
In addition, the volume of security alerts produced by UTM devices can be significant, making it difficult to filter out genuine security threats. Finally, there is the challenge of maintaining consistent procedures and processes for how security incidents identified by UTM devices are handled.
Verizon Business’ latest managed security offering can be fully integrated with its extensive portfolio of security products and services to give customers a holistic view of their security environment. Verizon Business’ comprehensive approach to security delivery helps to enable the best possible defense for customers.
Enterprises and government agencies rely on Verizon Business to help them manage security risk and protect critical company assets. Verizon Business Security Solutions offers a comprehensive portfolio of security services that include threat and vulnerability management; identity management; security and compliance programs; and security strategy and consultation. More than 1,100 security professionals around the globe deliver these offerings through a range of managed services, professional services and products.
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