AEP Networks Unveils Netilla Secure Gateway Appliance-M, Providing Secure Remote Access to Microsoft Outlook Web Access

Affordable, Rapid-Install SSL VPN Appliance Strengthens OWA Security While Providing Strong Policy Enforcement

RSA CONFERENCE 2005, San Francisco – Feb. 15, 2005 – AEP Networks (formerly Netilla Networks), the specialist in network and application access security, today introduced the AEP Netilla® Secure Gateway Appliance-M (SGA-M), a compact SSL VPN solution designed to provide enterprise-strength security and to simplify deployments of Microsoft® Outlook® Web Access (OWA). Designed for quick setup and installation, SGA-M provides a full complement of security safeguards for the rapidly growing number of businesses challenged with providing their employees with secure access to corporate email accounts via the Web.

The AEP Netilla SGA-M will be available March 1 through AEP’s authorized reseller network. Price will be $3,495 for 25 concurrent users, with no limit on the number of named users. The SGA-M marks the second entry in AEP’s line of affordable, application-specific SSL VPN appliances; it joins the SGA-C, which was introduced last fall to provide simple, secure access to Citrix? MetaFrame? applications.

“Our new SGA-M is designed to solve a growing challenge facing CIOs: how to meet employee demands for Web-based access to their Outlook email accounts while ensuring that their infrastructure remains secure,” said Reggie Best, executive vice president and general manager of AEP’s Secure Application Access Business Unit. “By broadening our successful SGA lineup we extend our commitment to address specific high-growth segments of the secure application access marketplace.”

A recent research note from Gartner, Inc., “Use Best Practices to Secure External Outlook Web Access,” highlighted the risks of data exposure that could occur with an improperly-secured deployment of OWA. Providing access to such an internal application from outside a company’s firewall can result in vulnerabilities that include server-side attacks, PC-side attacks and “browser residue” cached on a user’s PC after the remote Outlook session ends.

“We recommend using OWA through a secure reverse proxy configured as an SSL VPN,” said John Girard, one of the report’s co-authors and a vice president and research director in Gartner’s Research organization. “This method preserves the flexibility of OWA over the Internet while shielding internal URLs and adding broad defenses against security attacks.”

For further information on the report please visit www.gartner.com.

SGA-M: Comprehensive Web Application Security, Advanced Client Integrity
The Netilla SGA-M capitalizes on one of the key Gartner “best practices” with its advanced Web reverse proxy design. AEP’s web reverse proxy design dynamically translates and rewrites internal Web pages (such as OWA) in real time so that the user gets all the data he or she needs -- but without any sensitive internal data such as internal IP addresses that could pose security risks. SGA-M effectively pulls an organization’s OWA IIS-based servers from outside the firewall back into the private network.

This reverse-proxy architecture also provides powerful Web application security protection against common threats such as denial of service attacks, cookie snooping and authentication hijacking. Because AEP’s powerful Java Application Rewrite Engine (JARM) translates up to 95 percent of a typical Web page, the SGA does not need to fall back on the less-secure “port forwarding” approach that some SSL VPN vendors resort to.

As with other AEP Netilla SSL VPN products, SGA-M has fully integrated sophisticated endpoint security protection for host integrity checking (scanning the end station for compliance with corporate security policies) as well as cache cleaning (ensuring private data is erased at session end). This additional level of protection is available as an option. Network managers can easily activate any or all of these features, along with various authentication schemes, to various groups of users via Netilla’s proprietary V-Realms Client Identity Engine.

“Email is the killer app of business programs, and Outlook is the dominant player, so there’s an obvious need for Web-based access to Outlook,” said Steven Ryder, chief executive officer of WAN Strategies, an AEP Networks value-added reseller in Keene, N.H. “The Netilla SGA-M takes the pain out of providing employees with secure Web-based Outlook access. Better yet, its aggressive pricing that should make this a ‘gotta have it’ product for those small to midsize companies that want to equip their workers with the same mobility tools that Fortune 500 companies enjoy.”

About AEP Networks
AEP Networks, the specialist in network and application access security, delivers infrastructure security solutions that are easy to use and manage while offering exceptional value and mission-critical reliability. AEP Networks was formed as a result of the merger between AEP Systems Ltd and Netilla Networks Inc. in 2004. The company provides a full range of innovative secure networking and application access products to meet the most demanding requirements of public-sector and commercial customers. A privately held company backed by leading technology investors, AEP Networks is based in Somerset, N.J., with European headquarters in London.

The AEP Networks logo is a trademark of AEP Networks, Inc., with registration pending in the U.S. Netilla is a registered trademark of AEP Networks Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft and Outlook are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.