A virtual security gateway opens up to the cloud

With many companies taking their IT towards the cloud, Andreas Åsander reveals a new security gateway that protects from the inside out.

“The value we bring is that we're able to create virtual security on the inside.”
-Andreas Asander

How does a virtual security gateway solution differ from traditional IT security solutions?

Andreas Åsander. First of all, the virtual security gateway is different from the traditional IT metric security solutions in the sense that they are running inside the virtual environment, rather than on the outside protecting whatever goes to the virtual infrastructure. The major difference is that there are a lot of things going on inside a virtual infrastructure, especially since VMware released the vCloud-based hypervisors.

The value we bring is that we're able to create virtual security on the inside, which means that you don't have to build isolated islands of multiple virtual infrastructure. So, traffic doesn't need to leave the virtual infrastructure to go out to an external, traditionalised security and then come back in. All of these security inspections can take place on the inside.

What advantages does this offer to companies that have migrated their IT services to the cloud

AA. The major advantage is that you're able to protect your cloud-located applications and resources using the same methods and protection mechanisms as you would if you were doing it in a traditional physical environment. That means that you get the same level of control of what's happening in the cloud as you would do if you were having that host in a normal in-house data centre. In the end, I think that's what the customers are looking for. They want to feel the same level of control independently of it being cloud-based or traditional-based.

How scalable are virtual security solutions? Can they be adapted to the needs of large corporations and SMEs alike?

AA. Absolutely. In the case of Clavister, we have a unique licensing system. First of all, regardless of whether you're using a high-end, small or virtual solution - all of them use the exact same piece of software, but it's regulated and licensed depending on how much capacity or how many connections you want. We are able to fine-tune licenses that fit the SMEs alike as the large corporations, or even at telecom equipment manufacturers; they're all able to utilise the same features, but they're packaged and priced differently, depending on their needs.

What is unique about the solutions that Clavister offer compared to others that are on the market?

AA. I believe there's a five-pillar structure to what's unique about Clavister compared to other virtual security gateway vendors. Number one is that we have proved to be trusted and have been around since 1997, delivering more than 150,000 products and licenses worldwide, so we're not new to the game in terms of virtual infrastructures and security solutions. Second is that we are complete and scalable. Our offerings include the complete unified management feature set; having worked for this long with this many customers, it drives us to have a very complete security solution.

The third is that we have flexible licensing, meaning we can tailor a license that fits your need today. So, you don't need to over-invest today to be secure for tomorrow. At the same time, you're able to meet the exact business needs you have today without being locked in on a scenario where we have to do a big rip-and-replace activity to adapt to unique conditions.

Number four: I'd say that we have a supreme technology. We have the Clavister CorePlus, which is the firmware that's running. We don't rely on any underlying operating system, which is rather unique in our industry. Finally, we have a unified set management approach, which means that if you have an infrastructure with Clavister security, you can manage your virtual security gateways, taking care of the cloud using the same tools that you're using when you're administrating your physical traditional security gateways, or even your software base that might be running on your other hardware, like a Dell, HP or IBM server.

So, independently on each one, you are able to administrate all of them using the same management and the interface looks exactly the same, no matter what the platforms. It's also designed to manage up to tens of thousands of gateways, so your entire enterprise infrastructure can be managed from one console, allowing you to work up to hundreds of simultaneous administrators. Just as easily, it can be one gateway of one administrator - allowing for unified management.

Biography

Andreas Åsander is Vice President, Product Management at Clavister. Åsander joined the company in 1997, supporting key Clavister customers such as FMV, Bofors and SAF. He currently runs Product Management at Clavister.