New release of WatchGuard XTM OS

WatchGuard Technologies unveiled their latest security operating system for the XTM line of unified threat management appliances.

One of the new features includes the ability to create secure connectivity for mobile devices. By supporting the IPSec functionality already present on the Apple devices, WatchGuard provides mobile users of iOS devices an easy way to securely access corporate resources from any place, at any time.

This new release delivers an all new logging interface with dramatically faster for log searching, while the all-new, interactive reporting dashboard provides a view of network activity, combined with the ability to drill-down to find out more about specific users, applications, URLs, and more.

The new OS enhances email security by providing options to require Transport Layer Security (TLS), which encrypts sensitive email communications to prevent electronic eavesdropping. With TLS support, companies can enforce email security policies that require encryption for some, or all emails.

Administrators can also set up rules to block unencrypted mails sent to specified address/domains, or enforce the use of TLS when the remote server supports it.

WatchGuard appliances have long given administrators the option to create firewall rules based user and group names, rather than just IP addresses. Single Sign-On with Active Directory is used to map end user computers to their user names, with the added convenience of not requiring users to first visit a firewall login screen to begin their browsing sessions.

The SSO Agent has been enhanced to better detect user logon and logoff activities. This makes it easier to define, enforce, and audit user and group-based policies without having to install SSO software on each client computer.