ANS InterLock Service 4.0 offers secure managed Internet access.ELMSFORD, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 31, 1996--ANS, an America Online See AOL. Company, today announced the 4.0 version of its application-layer firewall, ANS (ANS Communications, Inc, Purchase, NY) An ISP, Internet backbone and provider of private data network services, founded in 1990 as Advanced Network & Services, Inc., by IBM, MCI and Merit (consortium of Michigan universities). InterLock A device that prohibits an action from taking place. (SM) Service, targeting a niche in the market for secure, managed Internet access See how to access the Internet. . The new release offers a full suite of auditing and reporting tools, powerful system performance and security enhancements designed for the maximum benefit of ANS InterLock customers using the Solaris operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. platform. "Once the corporate network is protected, the ability to monitor and manage expensive network and human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. becomes a top priority for business customers and is emphasized in features of the new ANS InterLock release," said Eric Nowak, manager of ANS InterLock customer support. "Unlike other commercial gateways, ANS InterLock Service supports authenticated WWW WWW or W3: see World Wide Web. (World Wide Web) The common host name for a Web server. The "www-dot" prefix on Web addresses is widely used to provide a recognizable way of identifying a Web site. access -- but Web authentication is only one facet of managing access." The new release generates detailed Web usage reports making it easy to identify top surfers and sites, thus increasing an administrator's ability to monitor Web activity, charge back for Internet usage and control user privileges See user permissions. . These reports, when coupled with new URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. filtering capabilities, further enhance the resource management profile of the service. Thomson Publishing's Ed Green, an ANS beta test customer, said, "Audit and reporting capabilities in ANS InterLock helped us identify as many as 30 non-work related sites that employees hit with regularity, so we introduced a company policy that makes non-work related graphics unacceptable. Now we're using the new URL filtering capabilities to block access to those sites to help enforce the policy." "Future development activities will provide customers with even more powerful methods of managing access to valuable Intranet and Internet resources," said Paul Sangster, manager of development for ANS InterLock Service. "Advanced network security and system performance remain principal development priorities." ANS InterLock Services' Integrity Watcher Daemon Pronounced "dee-mun" as in the word "demon," it is a Unix program that executes in the background ready to perform an operation when required. Functioning like an extension to the operating system, a daemon is usually an unattended process that is initiated at startup. , Audit Log Thresholder and JAVA Controls represent state-of-the-art security enhancements in the 4.0 release. Enhancements to ANS InterLock Service making up the 4.0 release include: - Redesigned WWW gateway -- offers high performance WWW access using a design that minimizes operating system overhead while processing multiple transactions simultaneously. - HTTPS (1) (HyperText Transport Protocol Secure) The protocol for accessing a secure Web server. Using HTTPS in the URL instead of HTTP directs the message to a secure port number rather than the default Web port number of 80. forwarder Forwarder Acts as a travel agent for cargo. A forwarder specializes in arranging the transport and completing required shipping documentation. Some are affiliated with NVOCC services. In the United States they are licensed by the Federal Maritime Commission. -- directs traffic to special HTTPS sites or URLs to support secure WWW transactions with sites using Secure Socket Layer (SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) The leading security protocol on the Internet. Developed by Netscape, SSL is widely used to do two things: to validate the identity of a Web site and to create an encrypted connection for sending credit card and other personal data. ) encryption. - Authenticated WWW access with integrated password management -- notifies users, without need to abandon a Web session, when it becomes necessary to change their passwords. This in-browser password change feature saves users time and increases productivity. Among WWW security gateways, only ANS InterLock system supports authenticated access. - URL-level filtering for WWW -- this "parental control" allows administrators to block access on per page, per directory or per site basis. This feature controls resources and helps to limit corporate liability by restricting access to irrelevant and unacceptable sites. - Integrity Watcher Daemon -- monitors specified sets of ANS InterLock files which are static by definition. Any changes, additions or removals are automatically mailed in a summary report to site administrators, thus protecting customers from Trojan horse attacks. - Audit Log Thresholder -- reads audit logs in real time watching for configurable series of patters that indicate a potential attack. When an attack pattern is recognized, the threshold can respond by sending e-mail, pages, SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) A widely used network monitoring and control protocol. Data are passed from SNMP agents, which are hardware and/or software processes reporting activity in each network device (hub, router, bridge, etc. traps or run local programs to add defensive rules. - Port to 2.5 Solaris -- significantly improves system performance and stability; enables customers to run Sun UltraSparcs and take advantage of built in Ethernet interfaces. - JAVA Controls -- JAVA use on the network can be disabled from a central site by network administrators. Early on, ANS anticipated the security needs of businesses using the Internet and developed ANS InterLock Service -- among the first commercially available application-layer firewalls. "Business requirements have now evolved beyond access security to resource control and we are very proud of the fact that ANS is once again, the first to recognize and respond to this need," said Jordan Becker, vice president of Network Services. "The enhanced service supports our Fortune 1000 customer base and maintains our position as the leading value added networking services provider to business customers." ANS offers integrated, multi-media information delivery services utilizing open standards-based technologies to meet the strategic and mission critical needs of businesses. ANS Enterprise Networking Solutions include: ANS Intranet Solutions Service, ANS SureRemote(SM) Dial Access Service, ANS Virtual Private Data Networks and ANS Web Hosting Services for Electronic Commerce and Publishing applications. ANS also offers a customer-premise based Web hosting solution called ANS InterServ(SM) Service; and Internet Attachment Services at speeds from 56K to T3, through its global backbone network, ANSnet. ANS was acquired by America Online in February 1995. CONTACT: ANS, Elmsford Georgann Russo, 914/789-5343 georgann@ans.net |
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