Risks On The Rise

Aberdeen's recent study, 'Unified Threat Management: What's In, What's Next,
and Why', showed that on average more than 120 new vulnerability disclosures are
made each week (nearly

90 percent of which could be exploited remotely), and more than 400,000 new
examples of malware were identified in the last year alone. It noted that
best-in-class organizations (top 20 percent based on performance), in comparison
to Laggards (bottom 30 percent), are nearly three-times more likely to automate
enforcement of policies, more than two-times more likely to generate alerts, and
about 50 percent more likely to block activities that violate policies. Compared
to Laggards, the leading organizations are 80 percent more likely to consolidate
IT security in a single device or service, ie adopt a UTM strategy.

UTM and flexibility

UTM also stands out for its exceptional flexibility. An organization may
initially deploy a UTM solution to address a specific problem, such as spam, but
in doing so, it establishes a flexible path for future expansion.

Sunil Sapra, Country Manager-India & SAARC, WatchGuard Technologies

Security prevails with UTM

Best-in-class companies using a Unified Threat Management (UTM) approach saw
several gains in the last 12 months. There was a 20 percent reduction in actual
threat/vulnerability related incidents, 14 percent reduction in audit
deficiencies, 11 percent reduction in unscheduled downtime and five percent
reduction in total associated staff.

Why UTM?

"Businesses are turning to UTM devices because of their capabilities to
address multiple threats, as well as for the tangible benefits of reducing costs
and improving efficiencies," said Derek E Brink, VP and Research Fellow, IT
Security, Aberdeen. "As UTM appliances continue to add new features to mitigate
future threats, and increase functionality and management capabilities, we
expect to see even more businesses utilize best-in-class security practices with
UTM appliances," he added. WatchGuard Technologies, believes that UTM appliances
play a major role in best security practices. "This data validates what many
WatchGuard customers already know: that WatchGuard appliances are instrumental
at reducing threats, cutting administrative costs, and keeping companies'
networks clean and running', said Sunil Sapra, Country Manager-India & SAARC,
WatchGuard Technologies.

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