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| New SSL proxy functionality for Blue Coat's ProxySG platform Blue Coat Systems has announced new SSL proxy functionality for its industry-leading ProxySG platform that finally brings visibility into - and granular control over - encrypted Secure Socket Layer (SSL) communications between internal corporate employees and external Internet applications. These SSL communications now represent a significant and sharply growing percentage of corporate Internet traffic. Most enterprise SSL traffic comprises business-critical applications now outsourced on the Internet, such as customer relationship management sites, travel booking, human resources/benefits and expense management. While these applications use SSL to protect the confidentiality of data for the enterprise, the encrypted traffic introduces a critical problem for the enterprise. SSL traffic eludes inspection or control by the organization, creating a significant internal Information Technology (IT) "blind spot" for security threats and an open door for rogue applications not sanctioned by company policy. Traveling unmonitored and unchecked through the firewall's fully open port 443, threat traffic has formed a new highway for enterprise vulnerability. Blue Coat's SSL proxy enables organizations to stop malware, including viruses and spyware, from infiltrating their networks through encrypted tunnels. It can deny threats from secured phishing attempts that now utilize SSL explicitly as a cloaking mechanism. It can also govern what encrypted applications the organization will allow to communicate externally. Since much of SSL traffic is business-critical, companies cannot afford any performance degradation due to inspection. Rather than degrade performance, Blue Coat's ProxySG platform actually boosts SSL-encrypted application performance by as much as 10X through the use of its patented object pipelining and caching technology. To date, corporations only have visibility and control over SSL communication when they own the application and can terminate connections to and from it. Blue Coat has provided SSL offload and termination for enterprise-run applications since 1999. Prior to the release of Blue Coat's new SSL proxy, enterprise user SSL communications out to the Internet have eluded IT visibility and control. With the new Blue Coat functionality, corporations can now terminate, inspect, impose policy and block or re-issue users' encrypted traffic. Blue Coat's proxy appliances have the unique ability to strike the optimal balance between user empowerment and IT control. Because a proxy terminates application protocols, it has comprehensive understanding of the user-to-application interaction and its context. As a result, proxy appliances provide IT with the power to define, enforce and audit intelligent policy controls over user/application interactions. By distributing proxy appliances at key points in an enterprise infrastructure - the data center, the gateway and regional/branch offices - organizations can create a robust system architecture to protect, control and accelerate Web communications. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Computing News :: home page |