Grouptest: Unified Threat Management appliances

We test six multifunction security devices designed to stop viruses, spam and hackers.

Dave Mitchell, Network IT Week 19 Sep 2006

Every local area network (LAN) now faces a diverse range of security threats, so much so that it’s becoming a costly business to guard against them all. The traditional method has been to use a collection of single purpose solutions to provide firewalling and protection from viruses, spam, spyware and network intrusion. By their nature, however, these products incur high investment costs that rise further as the burden of deployment, training, support and management adds up.

The unified threat management (UTM) appliance is touted as the answer to this dilemma, being designed to provide a one-stop shop for every LAN security requirement. Antivirus, anti-spam, intrusion detection (IDS) and prevention (IPS), IPsec VPNs – you name it and these boxes aim to supply it. Furthermore, the growing requirement for implementing and enforcing acceptable use policies (AUPs) in the enterprise is driving a demand for web content and email filtering that UTM appliances are also designed to address.

Many organisations also face the issue of deploying the same level of security protection to remote locations and branch offices. Centralising all these functions is nigh on impossible but deploying them locally could create extra problems for support and administration.

With this in mind, we looked at a range of UTM appliances that are suited not only to smaller businesses but also enterprise branch office deployment. The only real difference is the level of centralised tools that allow multiple appliances to be managed and monitored from head office.

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See also:

Tested: Zyxel ZyWall 70 UTM

The ZyWall 70 UTM looks a safe bet for branch offices as it offers good value and is particularly easy to manage. 19 Sep 2006

Tested: SonicWall Pro 4100

A solid product with a wide range of features, but probably too complex and too expensive for deployment in enterprise branch offices. 19 Sep 2006

Tested: Secure Computing SnapGear SG560

Secure Computing’s SnapGear SG560 did not provide the full UTM criteria of firewall services, IDS/IPS and integrated gateway antivirus functions. 19 Sep 2006

Tested: Secure Computing Sidewinder G2 51OD

The Sidewinder G2 510D is costly and probably better suited to core security duties in a head office or mid-range business rather than a branch office. 19 Sep 2006

Check Point VPN-1 UTM Edge

Check Point’s diminutive VPN-1 UTM Edge delivered the most balanced range of services and is a worthy winner of our Editor's Choice award. 19 Sep 2006

Tested: Astaro Security Gateway SG120

Astaro’s SG120 provides a very good range of security measures, but is not the easiest appliance to install or configure. 19 Sep 2006

All Firewalls

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Verdict

Editor’s Choice
For an appliance to satisfy the UTM criteria it needs to provide firewall services, IDS/IPS and integrated gateway antivirus functions, which immediately rules out Secure Computing’s SnapGear SG560. The remainder all meet these requirements, with many going well beyond this with an impressive range of features.

SonicWall’s PRO 4100 is rather unsuited to branch office duties as it is over specified and too costly. The same criticism applies easily to the Sidewinder G2 510D from Secure Computing, which looks a better candidate for core security duties in a head office or mid-range business.

Astaro’s SG120 provides a very good range of security measures, although it’s not the easiest to install and configure as each proxy has to be set up individually. The ZyWall 70 UTM looks a better bet for branch offices as it offers good value and is particularly easy to manage.

We felt that Check Point’s diminutive VPN-1 UTM Edge delivered the most balanced range of services. Integral ADSL support is a valuable feature and this is augmented with an Ethernet WAN port plus internet failover and high availability support.

Antivirus, web content filtering and anti-spam are very simple to get up and running and the latter performed particularly well. Add in the options for external Radius user authentication, remote management capabilities and a very competitive price, and you have Check Point stepping up as the winner of the Network IT Week Editor’s Choice award.

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