McAfee Inc. has announced the release of its next-generation firewall, McAfee Firewall Enterprise version 8.  With this new release, McAfee has expanded existing application protection delivered by its enterprise firewall appliance product line, giving security administrators visibility, recognition and policy enforcement  of over thousands of applications that are invisible to conventional firewall technology. Â
By integrating with McAfee’s real-time, cloud-based global threat intelligence, McAfee Firewall Enterprise and McAfee Firewall Enterprise Profiler provide increased visibility into external and internal threats and vulnerabilities, protecting customers more efficiently and reducing both compliance and operational costs.  With 350 threat researchers and one hundred million data collection sensors in operation, McAfee’s global footprint is unmatched in the network security market. The products leverage McAfee’s large install base and unique threat intelligence capabilities, providing customers with the most insightful and comprehensive view of the evolving threat landscape available. Application intelligence from McAfee Labs will provide comprehensive threat protection for existing as well as newly-developed network applications.
“Mobile users, modern web-based applications and ever more sophisticated cyber criminals have combined with the economic environment to create the perfect storm. By expanding application protection capabilities, backed by the researchers at McAfee Labs, McAfee provides a new value proposition to customers,” said Charles Kolodgy, Research Vice-President, IDC Security Products. “McAfee Firewall Enterprise provides comprehensive application threat and malware blocking, as well as industry-leading URL filtering and reputation-based blocking capabilities. With this new release, McAfee is expanding the level of application protection customers can receive from their firewall.”
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McAfee Firewall Enterprise features streamlined management through integration with McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator. This integration of management capability allows organizations to enjoy lower operating expenses.
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“The release of our next-generation firewall is intended to disrupt a stagnant firewall market that has failed to keep pace with the threat landscape.  Last generation firewalls don’t effectively enforce relevant business policies and are simply too hard and expensive to manage,” said Dan Ryan, Executive Vice-President & General Manager of the Network Security business unit at McAfee.  With this release, we are delivering next-generation firewall capabilities that improve network security while lowering compliance and operational costs.”
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