Trend Micro updates web gateway security for broader, “Beyond the Browser” control over cloud-based applications

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global cloud security leader, today announced the latest release of the company’s web gateway solution, which now delivers even greater visibility and control over the growing use of cloud-based applications such as instant messaging, peer-to-peer, video and audio applications, and web mail. 

Trend Micro InterScan Web Security 5.5 provides superior protection against Internet threats, while reducing costs through datacenter consolidation by supporting bare-metal, VMware Ready and Microsoft Hyper-V virtual appliances. It works alongside the Advanced Reporting and Management module, a separate, but essential, component that provides centralized real-time network traffic visibility, drill-down historical reporting, and policy management. 

Key new features found in the Trend Micro InterScan Web Security 5.5 release include: 

Application Control: This provides greater visibility into and control over an organization’s Internet usage. It automates the discovery and bandwidth usage of over 420 Internet-based protocols and the thousands of client applications that leverage them. Administrators can understand which users’ traffic needs to be controlled per application type and then create rules to enforce those policies. Unlike most web gateway products which can only apply policies to the traffic they can proxy, Interscan Web Security provides total visibility across all ports and many more protocols. 

HTTP Inspection: This provides more granular control to protect against emerging web threats by allowing administrators to identify behavior and filter web traffic according to any characteristic of the HTTP protocol. Administrators can leverage supplied policy templates to control things like:

whether users can post content to social networking sites;

whether users can send specific attachment types in public webmail applications; and

which browsers/versions can be used to access the Internet.

In addition, administrators can easily capture sample traffic from within the product and create custom filters to enforce any policy they might need.

URL Filtering: In addition to the Allow, Block, Monitor, and Warn actions available for URL Filtering policies, several enhancements are included in the 5.5 release, including:

Time-based Quotas: This allows administrators to define the total allowable browsing time within work/leisure hours that users can visit specific sites or categories of sites. Temporary time extensions can be granted as needed.

Password Override: This allows administrator-defined users to override the block action by typing a password in their browser to allow one-time access.  

Gabriel de Freitas Braga Castello Branco, security analyst, Real Protect Information Security:“We really like the new features in the latest release of InterScan Web Security. The application control capabilities give us great visibility, so we can discover any of over hundreds of Internet applications on our customers’ networks.”

Jay Jensen, Chief Information Officer, director of IT, Sierra RV Corporation: “With in-the-cloud threat protection, InterScan Web Security stops threats on the web and only brings in content from sites that are deemed safe. This is a much better strategy for security.” 

John Maddison, GM of data center security, Trend Micro: “Employee-use of cloud-based Web 2.0 applications is standard for many organizations and, as a result, it exposes their organization to cybercriminals attempting to gain access to sensitive data. Trend Micro InterScan Web Security gives organizations visibility into the Internet-based applications employees use and also secures that usage by blocking unwanted or unsafe content at the network perimeter. It’s powered by the Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ infrastructure, which means customers are getting the superior protection that comes from a cloud-client innovation which combines sophisticated cloud-based reputation technology, feedback loops, and the expertise of TrendLabs^SM  researchers to deliver real-time protection from emerging threats.”