Digex, Inc. (Nasdaq: DIGX), a leading high-end managed web and application hosting service provider for businesses worldwide, today (Dec 21) announced the availability of standardized, firewall-based virtual private networks (VPN), which will provide Digex clients a fast, secure and cost-effective method for deploying intranet, extranet and remote access VPNs.
“As more and more enterprise clients use the Internet for multi-company e-business applications, they require the very highest levels of security to assure the integrity of sensitive data transmitted over the Internet,” said Rebecca Ward, president of engineering, marketing and product management for Digex. “When you factor in the need for remote access for mobile users, the administration of VPNs becomes even more complex. Our managed VPN solutions provide the very highest levels of security available while relieving our clients of the highly complex task of managing the solution 24x7x365.”
Digex is offering a range of VPN configurations to meet a wide variety of client needs. Options range from single-site, remote office implementations to multi-site, enterprise-wide remote access, intranet and extranet VPN deployments. Digex VPNs are backed by a dedicated security team, which includes experts trained in the deployment and management of VPNs.
The Digex team holds more than 20 technology certifications from the supported vendors. The VPN offerings include secured encryption licenses, remote access, management of security updates and patches, VPN monitoring, and professional configuration and installation.
The Digex VPNs are built around Nokia appliances and Check Point software, representing the most robust and secure VPN technologies available today. “We are extremely pleased to see a world-class web hosting company, such as Digex, offering integrated firewall/VPN service to its customers,” said Scott Steigerwald, VP of global accounts for Check Point Software Technologies. “Check Point’s market-leading integrated solution reduces network complexity, and simultaneously enables secure and cost-effective Internet communication, critical for today’s eBusiness.”
For remote access users, Digex is using Check Point’s SecuRemote. Enhanced security features in SecuRemote include strong authentication and tunneling, allowing authorized users to transfer electronic mail and other corporate data securely via their own company’s intranet or across-enterprise extranets.
Firewall-centric VPNs provide the highest levels of security for clients with very high sensitivity to security risk, providing higher levels of performance than router-based VPNs and reducing security risks associated with VPN-only appliances, according to industry analysts.
The Digex VPN solutions are based on Check Point’s VPN-1/Firewall-1 software, the most comprehensive policy-based VPN software solution on the market, running on Nokia 440 and 650 devices. Incorporating the award-winning FireWall-1 enterprise security suite, VPN-1/FireWall-1 software enables site-to-site and client-to-site VPN capabilities through support of multiple strong authentication schemes including the industry standard RADIUS, and industry-standard IPSec encryption schemes including the standard for Internet VPNs, IKE (Internet Key Exchange, previously known as ISAKMP/Oakley).
