Blue Coat(R) Spyware Interceptor(TM) Upgrade Expands Protection from Phishing Threats11 November 2005
Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), a leading provider of proxy appliances, today announced a new version of software for Spyware Interceptor, an anti-spyware appliance for small-to-medium-sized networks of up to 1,000 users. The appliance now expands protection against phishing, a security threat involving the mass distribution of "spoofed" or forged email messages, which appear to come from legitimate organizations, in an attempt to trick users into surrendering private information, such as passwords, social security numbers, personal or business credit card and other financial account information. In the aggregate, phishing is a multi-million dollar problem. The Spyware Interceptor upgrade is the first major update to Blue Coat's proxy appliance since the product's original release in June 2005. Built on Blue Coat's proven proxy technology for large enterprise networks, the anti-spyware appliance utilizes SCOPE(TM) (Spyware Catching Object Protection Engine), Blue Coat's unique method of detection which optimizes ten methods of inspection to continuously protect networks and which minimizes the need for cleaning spyware, keyloggers and adware from desktops. The Spyware Interceptor appliance prevents both known and unknown forms of spyware, while allowing access to legitimate Web applications. Additionally, the appliance enables end users to view spyware-laden Web sites without becoming infected, and prevents existing spyware from fulfilling "phone home" requests. "Phishing continues to increase in prevalence and sophistication, making it a serious threat to the corporation," said Cindy Kelly, Vice President of Channels for Blue Coat in North America. "We have incorporated technology from our enterprise product line to solve growing security threats to small and medium-sized business. We believe our network gateway approach is more effective than other solutions such as desktop anti-spyware software that lack proactive prevention. Plus, through its lab, Blue Coat has scanned more than eight million unique Web pages-and counting-for new forms of spyware to block," said Ms. Kelly. Industry estimates indicate that 67% of all computers have some form of spyware, and as much as 25% of corporate help desk calls come from end users whose systems are overwhelmed with spyware. Dealing with spyware, including the prevention of spyware, repair of machines damaged by spyware, and loss of employee productivity, costs businesses millions of dollars per year. Enhancements announced in the Spyware Interceptor upgrade include: -- Protection against phishing by effectively stopping unsuspectin nd-users from visiting fraudulent sites and thus potentially divulgin heir confidential data. -- Reporting and statistical enhancements such as: * Real-time reporting,* New details on the number of detected and blocked events, including a view of which clients were infected, which were prevented from a spyware incident and how much activity the appliance stopped from entering the network,* Inclusion of blocked/tracked requests to suspect sites on front page statistics, to quickly identify which desktop is visiting or utilizing spyware-laden sites,* Top Ten frequently used reports, which include 7- and 30-day reporting periods in addition to the existing daily reports* Providing smaller networks with convenient and proactive reporting using a new automatic daily report generation option,* The ability to save reports as .csv files for off-box viewing by allowing the administrator to easily review these saved reports for future viewing and analysis,* The filtering of event logs, which allows customers to find a specific log report so that the administrator can easily access and identify which desktop is infected with spyware. "The Spyware Interceptor appliance, which is sold exclusively through our reseller and distributor network, has been extremely well-received since its introduction," said Ms. Kelly. "Customers recognize the value of stopping spyware at the network gateway and have provided valuable input in our efforts to enhance the appliance's capabilities. With the newly added protection against phishing, and ease-of-use and reporting enhancements, we are confident the Spyware Interceptor appliance will provide our small- and medium-size customers an even greater level of security." About Blue Coat Systems Blue Coat helps organizations make the Web safe and productive for business. Blue Coat proxy appliances provide visibility and control of Web communications to protect against risks from spyware, Web viruses, inappropriate Web surfing, instant messaging (IM), video streaming and peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing -- while actually improving Web performance. Trusted by many of the world's largest organizations, Blue Coat has shipped more than 25,000 proxy appliances. Blue Coat is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and can be reached at (408) 220-2200 or http://www.bluecoat.com. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Blue Coat Systems' expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, and including statements regarding the capabilities and expected performance of Blue Coat Systems' products, including Spyware Interceptor. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based upon information available to Blue Coat Systems as of the date hereof, and Blue Coat Systems assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These and other risks relating to Blue Coat Systems' business are set forth in Blue Coat Systems' most recently filed Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2005, and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Note: All trademarks, trade names or service marks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.
Source: PR Newswire
All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
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