Funkwerk Enterprise Communications (FEC) extends their Unified Threat Management (UTM) line by two new models. funkwerk UTM1100 is designed for up to 10 users and is particularly suited for small-scale offices, subsidiaries, or home offices. funkwerk UTM2500 now also enables companies with more than 250 network subscribers to ensure the all-round protection of their networks with only one device. As interfaces, 6-Gigabit Ethernet ports are available. Already since the beginning of the year, funkwerk UTM1500 has been on offer for up to 75 users and funkwerk UTM2100 for 100 to 200 users.

The UTM systems of Funkwerk Enterprise Communications GmbH, a company of Funkwerk AG, permit the all-round protection of the IT infrastructure against hacker attacks, such as DoS attacks and backdoors, and against viruses, worms, and spam. Due to the integrated setup wizard, the UTMs of the Nuremberg-based full-line provider are ready for operation after only a few installation steps. All devices are equipped with a firewall, an application level gateway, a VPN gateway, an intrusion prevention system, an authentication module, an anti-virus function, and a spam e-mail filter.

In the case of new acquisition of their UTM systems – which were assigned the Innovation Price by the German "Initiative Mittelstand", by the way – FEC moreover grants software maintenance for one year free of charge. Part of this package is the software update for the devices, the updates for the integrated IDS/IPS, as well as the spam e-mail and virus filter of the basic package of the UTM systems. The user will be granted the software and pattern support for the first year free of charge and automatically when the system is licensed online.

Optionally: Kaspersky and Commtouch
In addition to the basic equipment, FEC offers two add-ons for the UTM systems. On request, the basic virus protection can be extended by the well-known Kapersky Anti-Virus Engine. The protection against spam can optionally be amplified via the Commtouch Upgrade. In contrast to conventional spam filters, the Commtouch Engine does not only work according to contents or heuristic methods, but additionally considers the distribution patterns of spam e-mails. The central Commtouch Detection Center monitors the e-mail traffic over the Internet worldwide, deduces characteristic parameters of current spam e-mails, and stores these patterns designated as "fingerprints" in a database. The Commtouch Anti-Spam Engine accesses these fingerprints and uses them to filter spam e-mails already at the first occurrence of the spam wave independent of the language and the e-mail format. This technology makes it also possible to easily identify spam e-mails which, for instance, send texts as images. The Commtouch Engine, thus, offers optimum protection against spam with extremely high spam detection rates and almost without any "false positives" (erroneous detection rates).

Both add-ons have to be licensed separately. The surplus price for a license depends on the size of the UTM system applied and on the license period, which may range from one to three years.