Monday, 15 November 2004 20:48 EST

Announces Strategic Partnerships with Fortinet and Sygate Technologies to Create a Fundamental New Approach to Centralizing Interior Security

SUNNYVALE, CA, November 15, 2004 - Aruba Wireless Networks (Aruba) today announced strategic new partnerships with end-point security vendor, Sygate Technologies and network security vendor, Fortinet, Inc., to enable a more efficient, robust and scalable model for deploying centralized enterprise anti-virus and anti-worm solutions.

In concert with the extension of its wireless grid architecture (see related release “Aruba Extends Wireless Grids to Secure Wired Networks”), Aruba will integrate Fortinet's market-leading FortiGate™ anti-virus systems and Sygate best-of-breed security solutions into Aruba’s Grid architecture. The resulting solution is the first centralized anti-virus and anti-worm capability that can be virtualized for any port in the network, protecting both wired and wireless users without closet or network system upgrades.
User Mobility Requires Rethinking Network Security

As more mobile users - from guests to contractors, consultants to employees - access the corporate network through wired ports and wireless access points, IT staff are challenged to protect interior corporate networks from viruses, worms and other potential dangers. Like the Internet, interior corporate networks have become untrusted, due to changing usage patterns that allow mobile users to carry various types of malware inside the network interior, bypassing perimeter security.

Additionally, wireless technologies allow users to access corporate networks and engage in peerto- peer communication through radio frequencies. This is forcing corporations to change how they protect interior networks from what is now a diverse and mobile user community.

In response, some corporations have tried distributing anti-virus, firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, remediation appliances and content filters throughout the corporate interior. IT staffs are finding this approach difficult to scale, inflexible and expensive. And once deployed, distributed security architectures often disable or break user mobility.
Centralizing Best-of Breed Security Eliminates Cost and Complexity

Extending Aruba’s wireless grid architecture solves these interior security problems by enabling best-of-breed security services to be centralized within the grid architecture. In turn, all security services can be virtualized for all network ports from a single point within the network. This eliminates reconfiguring the network for security changes, upgrading wiring closet switches (e.g. to support 802.1x), adding new security appliances in every closet and deploying “trust agents” on clients to provide advanced admission controls.

Aruba has developed a unique new capability called the grid services interface (GSI) that allows third-party security services to be easily integrated within its grid architecture. Aruba’s GSI is an open interface that lets enterprises centralize all security and scale performance based on their needs.
Ensuring a Virus-Free Enterprise

Aruba and Fortinet are partnering to offer a wide array of Fortinet’s security products – including its flagship ASIC-accelerated FortiGate Antivirus Firewalls, FortiManager management platform and FortiLog logging and reporting systems – as part of Aruba’s grid architecture that provides customers with centralized wired and wireless security.

Instead of deploying anti-virus firewalls in-line at every wiring closet, Aruba’s grid architecture enables FortiGate devices to be deployed centrally behind new Aruba grid controllers that can apply security policies and then intelligently redirect traffic as needed to the Fortinet solution, before forwarding virus-free content to the intended destinations. Fortinet’s FortiGate Antivirus Firewall systems are complete content security solutions that protect against the growing number of costly, content-based threats at the network’s edge, while delivering the highest possible performance. They combine anti-virus, firewall, VPN, content filtering and intrusion detection and prevention in a single, easy to manage and cost-effective system.

Complementing this anti-virus solution, Sygate and Aruba have integrated Sygate’s endpoint security solution directly into Aruba’s grid controller. By doing this, Aruba’s grid controller can enforce policies such as “only forward traffic by specific file type” or “forward traffic originating from “untrusted” hosts to centralized anti-virus FortiGate firewalls. This results in an optimal combination of client based protection, appropriately and affordably augmented by centralized antivirus systems from Fortinet.

“Mobility and a broad diversity of users and devices is now a given in today’s enterprise networks,” said John De Santis, president and CEO at Sygate. “Sygate and Aruba have now made it easier for companies to build a centralized and non-disruptive security overlay to the IP network that ensures the integrity of all end point devices by ensuring they are in continuous compliance with corporate security policies.”

“Wireless networking brings about many advantages but makes corporations more vulnerable to attacks,” said Ken Xie, founder, president and CEO at Fortinet. “Aruba's addition of Fortinet systems into its grid architecture makes it possible to direct all traffic at every point in the network to a security core or clearinghouse thereby providing a much more efficient and cost-effective way to deploy and scale network security.”

“It only takes a single infected laptop plugging into a network port to threaten enterprise-wide operations,” said Don LeBeau, president and CEO of Aruba. “With Aruba’s grid architecture, combined with solutions from Fortinet and Sygate, we can now affordably ensure that no known viruses or worms can escape into the corporate network.”

Integrated support for Sygate and Fortinet within Aruba’s grid architecture will be available in December 2004.

About Aruba Wireless Networks, Inc.

Based in Sunnyvale, California, Aruba Wireless Networks (Aruba) is a fast-growing enterprise infrastructure company. Aruba pioneered the concept of centralized network systems to enable wireless, security and mobility services. The company's products help corporations address fundamental new changes taking place in enterprise networks caused by user mobility, security and wireless technology. Aruba markets and manufactures a complete line of network mobility and security systems that include wireless LAN switches, grid controllers, grid and access points along with advanced grid control software applications. Privately-held, Aruba has operations in the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific and India and employs staff around the world. Aruba has received over $59 million in three rounds of venture funding from top-tier venture firms - Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital, Trinity Ventures and WK Technology Fund. Visit Aruba Wireless Networks at http://www.arubanetworks.com
About Fortinet

Fortinet is the confirmed leader of the Unified Threat Management market. The company’s award-winning FortiGate™ series of ASIC-accelerated antivirus firewalls, winner of the 2004 Security Product of the Year Award from Network Computing Magazine and the 2003 Networking Industry Awards Firewall Product of the Year, are the new generation of real-time network protection systems. They detect and eliminate the most damaging, content- based threats from e-mail and Web traffic such as viruses, worms, intrusions, inappropriate Web content and more in real time - without degrading network performance. FortiGate systems are the only security products that are quadruple-certified by the ICSA (antivirus, firewall, IPSec, NIDS), and deliver a full range of networklevel and application-level services in integrated, easily managed platforms. Named to the Red Herring Top 100 Private Companies, Fortinet is privately held and based in Sunnyvale, California. Please visit Fortinet at www.forinet.com
About Sygate Technologies, Inc.

Sygate is the market leader of endpoint security solutions for the large enterprise. Using Sygate’s Continuous Compliance™ solutions, the world’s largest organizations protect their networks, enforce business policies, and automate security practices to regain control of network security, reduce costs, and ensure compliance across the organization. Partnerships with industry leaders, including Alcatel, Aventail, Enterasys, Extreme Networks, Hewlett Packard, iPass, Juniper Networks, Microsoft and Nortel, enable Sygate’s technology to operate seamlessly across multiple platforms and applications. Sygate Technologies is a privately held company headquartered in Fremont, California. For more information, please visit www.sygate.com or call .