Historically, a Firewall was something like a door. To connect to the Internet a company had to put in a "door" that opened up its network to the rest of the world. Lately though, we've seen Firewalls used increasingly to enable connectivity. Not just closing the door to attacks from the outside, but enabling secure remote connections to company networks, and sharing information using the Internet as a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Companies have discovered the benefits of connectivity. They have more doors, they have more connection points, they use the public networks, and, they have to secure them. Migraine headaches guaranteed!

Offering some pain relief, OpenROUTE Networks Inc. hosted a recent LANDA dinner seminar. OpenROUTE concentrates on web technology, and they demonstrated their firewall technology to more than 100 LANDA members and guests.

Changing VPN Trends

There is a migration from Remote Access Service (RAS) to Internet router-based (Remote Access Router), and the trend is definitely towards shared devices. By 1999 he estimates that 49.6% of us will be using bridge routing.

VPN's work by using a Firewall at each location which runs encrypting software. One challenge is packing as much technology as possible into these edge connectors, and at reasonable cost. Another is in selecting the right Wide Area Network (WAN) and the right equipment.

GlobeTrotter Remote Access Routers The GlobeTrotter line of remote access routers addresses the first challenge by combining the features of a network firewall and a router into a cost-effective, easily managed, single product solution.

Resembling a portable CD player, these routers act as inexpensive gatekeepers to networks, transparently protecting them from outside intrusion while providing remote offices & corporate intranets with secure connectivity. And they eliminate the need for several standalone security products.

State of the art security via Dynamic Filtering offers one of the best methods of eliminating unsolicited traffic and protecting access to sensitive data. Working with the RADIUS server, they can determine if the person is exactly who he claims to be (authentication) and if that person has been granted privileges to the particular application (authorization). In short, the Filters are on the router, the Profiles on the server.

Sophisticated? Yes. But the system's graphical setup utility makes it possible to be up, configured, and running in only 5-10 minutes. And standard security features such as PAP and CHAP, IP Anti-Spoofing, Calling Line ID (CLID) and secure password access are supported.

Show Me the Security!

There are many ways to create a WAN. What you use depends on your specific applications and performance requirements. Edwin David, OpenROUTE's Sales Systems Analyst, demonstrated nearly all of them in a show and tell tour-de-force featuring the GlobeTrotter products.

Firewalls, he says, work by first, denying everything. But a firewall also has to support company policy and that can mean new services every day. So, each one of these new services optionally needs to be supported or blocked.

Mr. David's live demonstration included FTP, Telnet, and Web access, as well as direct web server access all with both a password and a CRYPTOcard (smart card) challenge. Very impressive. He's still unplugging the cables!

Making the Internet safe for business, OpenROUTE's GTSecure Firewall Products are solid state and flash ROM upgradeable.

For more information contact them at (416) 363-8442, or visit their web site at http://www.openroute.com/