The Planet Introduces OZONE ACL Protection for VLAN

Business Wire, Feb 3, 2005

DALLAS -- The Planet recently introduced OZONE, a security solution that implements an access control list (ACL) on clients' virtual local area network (VLAN) interfaces which protects against attacks through unused TCP and UDP ports.

"OZONE lets our customers lock down their servers to allow only common Internet ports that their servers need to function, and no more," said Ric Moseley, Vice President of Engineering for The Planet.

Whenever a server is accessible through the Internet, the network is open to attack. Unused applications and services created during installation of the operating system leaves TCP/UDP ports exposed, adding to that vulnerability. OZONE uses ACLs to filter out unwanted traffic through those ports, and creates a logical, intuitive mechanism for defining security policies.

"New system and network vulnerabilities are discovered daily," said Mr. Moseley. "The Planet's dedicated Security Engineers continually reviews Internet threats and can add or remove ports for OZONE customers that are at risk of attack."

Customers can choose one filter per VLAN and add or remove filters using The Planet's proprietary web portal, ORBIT. The new security solution can be added to customers' new or existing VLANs with a number of rule-based packet filters available for a range of environments, including Windows 2000 and 2003, Unix (Redhat, FreeBDS, Debian), OS-neutral, game server and generic-deny environments.

"OZONE provides an added layer of protection," Mr. Moseley said, "at an incredibly affordable price."

OZONE is priced at $20 per VLAN and is one more aspect of The Planet's ongoing strategy to provide its clients with multi-tiered, high-end security systems that would be too expensive for them to purchase on their own.

About The Planet

Launched in 1994 and based in Dallas, The Planet provides a world of Internet and hosting services and solutions. As one of the fastest growing managed hosting providers in the United States, the company serves small businesses and enterprise clients with value-added services such as advanced server monitoring, database administration, managed data storage, virtual private networks and more. For additional information, visit www.theplanet.com.