WatchGuard releases new ruggedised network security appliance

Network security and intelligence solutions provider WatchGuard Technologies has announced the release of the Firebox T35-R.

This network security appliance allows midmarket businesses, distributed enterprises, and the managed service providers that support them to extend WatchGuard's security services and beyond traditional office and data center settings to protect against malware, intrusions and other threats in the industry's harshest environments.

"As cybercriminals set their sights on the massive wave of newly adopted and potentially insecure industrial internet of things (IIoT) devices, businesses need network security solutions that can withstand the unforgiving deployment conditions present in harsh environments," says WatchGuard product management VP Brendan Patterson.

"The T35-R is designed to meet this growing demand, offering the same performance and security protections as our conventional network security appliances, with added resistance to temperature, moisture and dust concerns often found in manufacturing, oil and gas plants, utilities sites, agricultural environments and other rugged locations."

The Firebox T35-R aims to offer the best combination of performance, ruggedisation and price on the market.

Key features of the Firebox include:

• An IP64-rated industrial enclosure – The appliance is fully dust- and splash-proof, and capable of operating in temperatures of -40 to +60 degrees Celsius, providing reliable security and connectivity that persists despite the extreme conditions often found in nontraditional network environments, and eliminating need to build custom enclosures.

• DC power – The appliance can operate on 12v to 48v DC power, or alternatively use an optional AC power supply.

• Network security –The T35-R makes site-to-site VPN connectivity simple, reliable and manageable, and empowers administrators to confidently enable advanced security protections including APT Blocker, Threat Detection and Response, DNSWatch, IPS, Gateway AntiVirus, and more, without slowing network speeds. NSS Labs recently recommended WatchGuard Firebox in their annual NGFW report as one of only two vendors that successfully defeated all evasion attempts.

• Simplified deployment – Industrial organisations and the IT solution providers that support them can configure, deploy and manage the T35-R using RapidDeploy. WatchGuard's centralised zero-touch configuration solution, and the WatchGuard Cloud management platform. Users can pre-configure appliances for quick and nontechnical installation, saving travel time and man hours for individual security deployments at remote industrial sites.

• SCADA IPS signatures – Included with WatchGuard's Basic and Total Security Suite, the Firebox T35-R leverages these signatures to protect against known industrial control system (ICS) and SCADA threats and enable security use cases in harsh deployment environments.

The Firebox T35-R is generally available today.