Sygate Technologies Announces Sygate Personal Firewall 4.0, Combining the Best of Firewall Security and Intrusion Defense

Business Wire, March 27, 2001

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 2001

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Sygate(R) Technologies, a leading provider of Internet security software solutions, today announced the release of Sygate(R) Personal Firewall(TM) 4.0, the first personal firewall software that combines firewall and intrusion defense technologies to deliver comprehensive security and ease of use for home and small businesses.

Raising the Bar on PC Security

As a firewall, Sygate Personal Firewall 4.0 controls access to communication ports and monitors any port-scanning activity. As an intrusion defense agent, it only allows trusted communication and considers any other network activity `guilty until proven innocent.' As a result, Sygate Personal Firewall 4.0 secures computer systems, without the obtrusive and irrelevant alerting characteristics of other security solutions. When attacks do occur, Sygate Personal Firewall 4.0 offers forensic capabilities allowing users to find the source of intrusion and take appropriate action.

Sygate Personal Firewall 4.0 also includes Sygate(R) Online Services (SOS), a vulnerability assessment tool. SOS allows users to proactively secure their systems by finding and closing security holes before would-be attackers can use them.

"With the growth of broadband Internet access to homes, the need to protect personal computers from malicious hackers while preventing unauthorized access from personal computers to networks is paramount," said John De Santis, president and CEO of Sygate. "By integrating application and host-based profiling with our guilty-until-proven-innocent approach, Sygate Personal Firewall 4.0 effectively deals with known and unknown threats to computer security. It is an easy-to-use, must-have security measure for any PC that connects to a private network or the public Internet."

Next Generation Approach to PC Security

By allowing only trusted network traffic and applications, Sygate Personal Firewall not only detects, identifies and blocks known Trojans and Denial of Service attacks, but recognizes new or unknown attacks. Since Sygate Personal Firewall's `guilty until proven innocent' approach doesn't rely on signature-based scanning, it doesn't bog down system performance by wading through 60,000 known attacks to provide every communication attempt the benefit-of-the-doubt. If and when an intrusion attempt occurs, Sygate Personal Firewall detects and blocks it in real-time, while immediately notifying the user. Advanced logging and reporting provide users with the visibility they need to stay one step ahead of the bad guys.

Easy to Install and Use

Sygate Personal Firewall easily installs on personal computer systems by automatically detecting the user's Internet connections and settings. Built-in DHCP support lets Sygate Personal Firewall slide seamlessly into existing network configurations. An auto-update check at start-up ensures security is state-of-the art with the latest version in place every time a computer is in use.

Download Sygate Personal Firewall

Beginning today at 3:00 pm ET, Sygate Personal Firewall 4.0 for personal use will be available for 48 hours as a free download exclusively on the CNET Networks, Inc.'s ZDNet LaunchPad (http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/lpad/sygatepersonal.html) and CNET Download.com (http://www.download.cnet.com/downloads/0-10105-108-6756.html) Web sites. CNET Download.com, the leading channel for electronic software distribution on the Internet, and ZDNet LaunchPad, the authoritative source of free editorially reviewed, rated, and tested software downloads, together create the largest online software distribution vehicle for Sygate Personal Firewall 4.0. For business use, Sygate Personal Firewall 4.0 is available for $39.95 at http://www.sygate.com.

About Sygate Technologies, Inc.

Sygate Technologies, Inc.(TM), founded in 1995, has a proven reputation for creating innovative networking and security technologies. Protecting more than two million networks worldwide, Sygate Technologies secures Internet devices, mobile computers and corporate desktops from intrusion and misuse. Sygate solutions enforce consistent security policy, to defend information and computing assets against intruders for individuals and organizations.