ACTANE Controller The Internet Firewall

ACTANE Controller

Introduction

The ACTANE Controller project is the result of two years of research and development.

Our technology -- based on SNMP management -- which is a result of our research program, reduces the Firewall management costs by making installation, security policy, configuration and maintenance of the product easier, even for beginners.

Comprehensive Firewall Security Technology

ACTANE Controller is a comprehensive firewall aiming to satisfy high level security policies including packet filtering, circuit-level gateway and application proxies, including full SNMP management and OOTP, our unique Object Oriented Transparent Proxying technology. ACTANE Controller also supports Token-based strong authentication algorithms.

The main design rules of ACTANE Controller are :

anything not explicitly allowed is forbidden.
user and application are transparent.
easy and coherent management.
true firewall security model.

Right from the beginning of the design, we defined a high level strategy aiming to satisfy the following requirements in addition to security features : The firewall must be as easy as possible to use while remaining highly effective. This simplicity can be expressed in two points: easy setup and easy management.

It is necessary, as much as possible, to use standardized protocols or those following a standardization process. The hardware architecture of the firewall is secure, upgradeable and inexpensive.

With these goals in mind, we built a fully SNMP manageable Firewall.

For the hardware platform, we have chosen the cost-effective no-screen and no-keyboard standard PC computer.

For all the protocols in use, a study must be conducted which is aimed either at strengthening their security or exploiting those particularities already inherent in those protocols which could be used to strengthen security.

SNMP-Based Centralized and Standardized Management

All ACTANE Controller's management tasks are carried out remotely from any workstation running an SNMP manager.

Our unique technology enables us to have, right from version 1.0, a user interface which can run on all types of workstations whether it be a PC under Windows, UNIX workstations or Macintosh.

The advantages of our technology are many and decisive compared with our competitors:

ACTANE Controller is seen as being part of the network, as well as of other routers, and its management is coherent with that of the routers’.
Very wide choice of graphical user interfaces for every workstation on the market.
Reduced management costs.
ACTANE Controller’s reliability is increased - no graphical interface, less code, fewer bugs.
Segmented management depending on the role of different security administrators (e.g. a key master and an authorization manager).
Direct user account management by each user without having to go through another authority.
Open management using SNMP managers' API's.
Remote management of the firewall.
Centralized management of many firewalls.
Alarm on intrusion attempts with redirection to several network managers.
Alarm redirection to pagers - an SNMP manager feature -.

OOTP -- Object-Oriented Transparent Proxying -- ACTANE's Unique Technology

OOTP enables us to have a coherent firewall security model defining proxy management and behavior. OOTP is based on the natural object concept. OOTP enables us to provide the user with a comprehensive knowledge of the firewall behavior; you no longer need to be an expert C language programmer to understand what the firewall really does.

Transparent Proxying technology permits the use of all standard software and is more user-friendly, the user doesn't need to know about the firewall.

The OOTP principles are :

Each communication controlled by ACTANE Controller is an object created when an authorized connection request is emitted, then the communication goes through different states as datagrams are exchanged and finally the communication is destroyed.
Each communication behavior depends on the behavior of its class - e.g. FTP connection -.
A communication class can derive from another class - e.g. an FTP command connection is a TCP connection with FTP specific added features -.
A communication class can contain other classes - e.g. an FTP communication contains an FTP command connection for commands and FTP data connections for file transfers -.

Plug-And-Play Security

ACTANE Controller can be setup with no security configuration. As soon as it is plugged in, your network is safe inside blocking out intruders. Only outgoing packets can be sent, any unauthorized connection attempts from the Internet will be denied and an alarm will be sounded to the security manager.

Token-Based Strong Authentication

ACTANE Controller's FTP transparent proxy permits user-strong authentication using DES-based Tokens. Users can now log on safely wherever they are on the Internet.

Protocol Security Reinforced.

ACTANE Controller was designed entirely with security in mind. All protocols used were re-written by our team to either reinforce their security or to take advantage of useable features from a security point of view.

Hardware Platforms

ACTANE Controller was designed to run on low-cost PC platforms while remaining highly effective.

The Hardware Requirements allow different typical uses, up to a high speed Corporate Intranet Firewall.

ACTANE Controller Price

The ACTANE Controller price is 1590 USD for an unlimited number of workstations to secure.

The principle is that you purchase ACTANE Controller when you are satisfied with its services; our aim is that you buy ACTANE Controller after setup and testing. You can test ACTANE Controller as much as necessary. You buy ACTANE Controller when you are fully satisfied with its services and you use it.

ACTANE Home Page

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