Astaro Floats Cloud Security into 8.3 Gateway Update

By samdizzy

sophos-astaro

Astaro Security Gateway (ASG) 8.3 now comes with “the ability to launch … in the Amazon Elastic Computing Cloud and connect to the Amazon VPC using local Astaro installation with the new VPC connector,” which it notes “considerably” expands its cloud UTM capabilities. ASG 8.3 comes packaged in an official Amazon Machine Image (AMI), so enhanced compatibility and scalability are standard right form the start. There’s also a “dedicated connector” for the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud.

ASG 8.3 includes Better Gateway Protocol (BGP) 4, allowing for a wider breadth of solutions for enterprise customers looking to provide advanced and complicated routing capabilities. (As a bonus, the Sophos Access Point AP50 will support ASG 8.3 features.)

Jan Hichert, former Astaro CEO and now senior VP and general manager for network security at Sophos, said the “… extension into the Amazon cloud … [is] in response to our customers’ growing need for cloud security solutions.” And for those thinking beyond the current update, Hichert said ASG version 9 will be available soon, with a wider amount of integration between Sophos and Astaro technology.