Social Media Release:
Latest Research Findings – Best in Class Organizations Reap Rewards by Deploying Unified Threat Management (UTM)
SEATTLE - October 27, 2008 -- WatchGuard Technologies
Highlights / News Facts:
- Risks are increasing – Aberdeen notes that on average more than 120 new vulnerability disclosures are made each week (nearly 90% of which could be exploited remotely), and more than 400,000 new examples of malware were identified in the last year.
- Best-in-Class organizations are adopting UTM – In Aberdeen’s recent study, "Unified Threat Management: What's In, What's Next, and Why," Best-in-Class organizations (top 20% based on performance), in comparison to Laggards (bottom 30%), are 80% more likely to consolidate IT security in a single device or service, i.e. adopt a UTM strategy.
- Costs and complexity are top UTM drivers – Across all respondents, reducing cost and reducing complexity are the top drivers for adopting UTM.
- UTM gains quantified – Best-in-Class companies using a Unified Threat Management (UTM) approach realized the following gains in the last 12 months over those with lagging performance:
- 20% reduction in actual threat/vulnerability related incidents
- 14% reduction in audit deficiencies
- 11% reduction in unscheduled downtime
- 5% reduction in total associated staff
- Best security practices – Compared to Laggards, Best-in-Class organizations are nearly 3-times more likely to automate enforcement of policies, more than 2-times more likely to generate alerts, and about 50% more likely to block activities that violate policies.
- Sustaining best security – Knowing how to respond, responding quickly and efficiently, and not having to respond again in the future are directly linked with driving down ongoing management costs related to sustaining security and compliance.
- UTM and flexibility – Flexibility is what UTM is all about. An organization may initially deploy a UTM solution to address a specific problem, such as spam, but in doing so, it establishes a flexible path for future expansion.
- Full report available – The Aberdeen Report, "Unified Threat Management: What's In, What's Next, and Why" is available for free through November 30 at: www.aberdeen.com/summary/report/benchmark/4872-RA-unified-threat-management.asp
Keywords:
Aberdeen Group, Network Security Risks, UTM, Unified Threat Management, Extensible Threat Management, XTM, Best-in-Class, Security Best Practices, Research Report, WatchGuard
Quotes:
- "Businesses are turning to UTM devices because of their capabilities to address multiple threats, as well as for the tangible benefits of reducing costs and improving efficiencies," said Derek E. Brink, Vice President and Research Fellow, IT Security, Aberdeen. "As UTM appliances continue to add new features to mitigate future threats, and increase functionality and management capabilities, we expect to see even more businesses utilize best-in-class security practices with UTM appliances."
- "Evidenced by Aberdeen’s research, UTM appliances play a major role in security best practices," said Eric Aarrestad, Vice President, Marketing at WatchGuard. "This data validates what many WatchGuard customers already know, which is WatchGuard appliances are instrumental at reducing threats, cutting administrative costs, and keeping companies' networks clean and running."
About WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.
Since 1996, WatchGuard® Technologies, Inc. has been the advanced technology leader of network security solutions, providing mission-critical security to hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide. The WatchGuard family of wired and wireless unified threat management appliances and WatchGuard SSL VPN remote access solutions provide extensible network security, unparalleled network visibility, management and control. WatchGuard products are backed by WatchGuard LiveSecurity® Service, an innovative support, maintenance, and education program. WatchGuard is headquartered in Seattle and has offices serving North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. To learn more, visit www.watchguard.com.
WatchGuard and LiveSecurity are registered trademarks of WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. All other marks are property of their respective owners.
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