MS targets enterprise endpoint with new products

NEW YORK, USA: Microsoft on Wednesday added two new products to its Forefront security line that round out its endpoint security strategy -- including the first offering to employ its cloud-based Web reputation service.

Microsoft announced the general availability of a significantly revamped version of its old ISA Server 2006 VPN/firewall called the Threat Management Gateway (TMG), which adds enhanced URL filtering, anti-malware, and intrusion prevention technologies to defend against Web attacks against unsuspecting corporate end users.

The software giant also released a beta version of the Unified Access Gateway 2010 (UAG), which is a next-generation version of its Intelligent Application Gateway that handles remote access to applications by mobile devices, as well as PCs and laptops.

The two new endpoint security products advance Microsoft's offerings for securing corporate users and their access to corporate resources. UAG also relies heavily on identity-based access and policy, which Microsoft is pushing as one of the key elements of security: "We think of this as our solution for security...to redefine how people talk about protection and access -- with identity," says John "JG" Chirapurath, director of the identity and security business group for Microsoft. "We are making identity a first-class citizen in security."

(Kelly Jackson Higgins, DarkReading)