Sophos Launches Web Security Product

By Brian Turner

In line with its transformation from a software-only security company to hardware, Sophos has launched a new managed web filtering appliance - the WS1000 - its first web-oriented hardware system.

The WS1000 monitors for and blocks Trojans, adware, spyware and viruses that arrive on networks through browsers. It is designed for networks with between 100 and 1,500 users. The appliance uses a sophisticated form of URL filtering which blocks known websites from a Sophos-compiled database and also anticipates successive malware downloads from such sites using URL categorisation technology.

The WS1000 is primarily designed to be managed remotely and also embeds application control technology from Sophos, which blocks specific types of often contentious person to person applications, or allows them to run in a controlled manner.

The product is classified as semi-managed as its parameters are updated automatically every hour, keeping the necessity for user intervention to a minimum. All primary tasks are performed by Sophos’s own embedded engine, compared with rival products which include multiple anti-malware components from different companies. However future versions of the product may include additional data from SurfControl to enhance Sophos’s URL analysis database.

The WS1000 is priced according to the number of desktops being protected. For 1,000 it would cost around £5.90 per user plus £2,750 for the appliance itself. The price includes live updates and 24/7 customer support from dedicated staff.