Messaging Gateway guards against inbound/outbound threats.

Press Release Summary:



Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway v3.0 appliance and Proofpoint Protection Server® v3.0 eliminate inbound spam and viruses while mitigating risks associated with outbound email. Designed for large enterprises, solutions combine techniques for fighting spam with anti-virus and outbound content security features in one scalable platform. Modules help enforce outbound email policies, defend against leakages of confidential information, and comply with email-related regulations.



Original Press Release:


Proofpoint Announces the Industry's First Complete, Multi-layer Defense Against All Inbound and Outbound Messaging Threats


Proofpoint Announces 3.0 Versions of Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway Appliance and Proofpoint Protection Server Software; Next-Generation Platform Eliminates Inbound Spam and Viruses while Mitigating Risks Associated With Outbound Email

CUPERTINO, Calif., Nov. 9 -- Proofpoint(TM), Inc., the leader in comprehensive messaging security solutions for large enterprises, today introduced its next-generation messaging security solutions, the Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway(TM) 3.0 appliance and Proofpoint Protection Server(R) 3.0 software. Designed specifically for large enterprises, these solutions are the first of their kind to combine the most effective techniques for fighting spam -- including Proofpoint MLX(TM) machine learning technology, intelligent perimeter defenses and email firewall capabilities -- with anti-virus, and robust outbound content security features in a single, highly scalable platform. Proofpoint 3.0 delivers the most cost-effective, future-proof solution for messaging security, ensuring that only legitimate messages enter and exit the enterprise.

Proofpoint today also introduced a new suite of optional modules that add comprehensive content security features to Proofpoint's platform. Proofpoint Content Compliance(TM), Proofpoint Digital Asset Security(TM) and Proofpoint Regulatory Compliance(TM) help enterprises enforce outbound email policies, defend against leakages of confidential information and comply with email-related regulations. (See related announcement, "Proofpoint Debuts Content Security Suite, the Industry's First Comprehensive, Integrated Solution for Mitigating Outbound Email Threats.")

"For Pitney Bowes, Proofpoint is 'set it and forget it' technology. With the Proofpoint Protection Server, we no longer worry about spam and we had only minor configuration modifications," said John Congiu, manager of enterprise messaging for Pitney Bowes. "We are confident that Proofpoint Protection Server 3.0 and the new content security modules will provide the most comprehensive and effective messaging security technology on the market today."

"In its ongoing research of real-world anti-spam and messaging-security deployments, Nucleus Research has found that newer products like the Proofpoint Protection Server and Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway are much more effective than previous solutions at stopping spam and other messaging-borne threats, while also being much easier to deploy and manage," said Rebecca Wettemann, vice president of research for Nucleus Research. "Solutions like Proofpoint result in a very fast ROI because they restore employee productivity previously consumed by spam management, while reducing network bandwidth consumption and storage requirements. They also deliver 'soft' ROI benefits by reducing enterprise risks associated with outbound content, such as lawsuits related to inappropriate content and fines from compliance violations."

Proofpoint Protection Server 3.0

Proofpoint's software solution for enterprise messaging security, the Proofpoint Protection Server, is the industry's most powerful and complete messaging security platform. The Proofpoint Protection Server stops message-borne threats at the enterprise gateway, including inbound threats such as spam, viruses and phishing attacks, and outbound threats such as intellectual property theft, compliance violations and confidential information leaks.

Proofpoint Protection Server 3.0 includes the new Proofpoint Email Firewall(TM), which adds another layer of perimeter security and anti-spam effectiveness on top of Proofpoint's MLX-based anti-spam technology. The Proofpoint Email Firewall delivers a number of new capabilities including:

-- MLX Dynamic Reputation(TM) analysis: Proofpoint MLX Dynamic Reputation technology constantly monitors SMTP connections at the IP address level, looking for suspect or malicious activity. Proofpoint monitors the number of connections, type of activity and content of messages coming from each IP address. Proofpoint MLX machine learning techniques are used to analyze network activity and assess the risk associated with each connection.

-- SMTP traffic control: Based on this analysis, the Proofpoint Protection Server takes automatic, corrective action using SMTP traffic control. Malicious connections are automatically blocked or throttled based on fully customizable mail traffic policies. The Proofpoint Email Firewall provides impenetrable defense against a wide variety of network-level attacks including Denial of Service, Dictionary and Directory Harvest Attacks, keeping networks and email users safe while preserving network bandwidth. Only Proofpoint offers this dynamic, real-time and self-tuning perimeter security solution.

"Proofpoint Protection Server was one of the simplest product implementations of recent years and has virtually eliminated spam with no measurable level of false positives. In more than 30 years in this business I've never received as many 'thank you' notes from the field as I did with this implementation," said Gene Dahl, chief technical officer of DecisionOne. "I'm looking forward to Proofpoint 3.0 and the ability to squelch email from sites that are generating or relaying spam-both for performance purposes, and to reduce the threat of spam-borne viruses. It will be a significant improvement in our perimeter defense."

Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway Appliance

The Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway appliance combines a robust, enterprise-class MTA with Proofpoint's perimeter security, anti-spam, anti-virus, secure messaging and outbound content security capabilities in an easy-to-deploy, hardened appliance. Custom manufactured by Dell to Proofpoint specifications, the Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway is designed for the most demanding enterprise messaging environments. It can be deployed in a matter of minutes, immediately protecting enterprises from all message-borne threats.

The P600, P800 and P1000 gateway models are highly scalable and can be easily deployed in industry-standard cluster configurations to support complex or geographically-distributed data centers. Different gateway models can be cost-effectively deployed in any combination to support tens of millions of messages per day.

Proofpoint's optimal scalability architecture allows multiple agent gateways to be managed from a single master console. The Proofpoint Messaging Security Console(TM) provides a centralized, 100% web-based administration interface for defining messaging policies, monitoring messaging infrastructure, reporting and configuring end-user controls.

Version 3.0 of the Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway supports digital certificates and enables gateway-to-gateway secure transfer and receipt of email using Transport Layer Security (TLS). Sensitive information can easily be encrypted for specific domains, business partners or in response to regulatory compliance concerns. In addition to these built-in secure messaging features, Proofpoint also integrates with third-party secure messaging solutions from leading vendors.

Machine Learning Power for Complete Messaging Security

Proofpoint's messaging security solutions are powered by Proofpoint MLX, an advanced, patent-pending machine-learning system. Based on advanced statistical techniques including logistic regression and support vector machines, Proofpoint MLX enables the accurate classification and identification of unstructured content, such as email messages and company documents.

Proofpoint's MLX-powered anti-spam engine now analyzes more than 100,000 structural and content attributes in every email message to deliver unrivalled spam detection accuracy. Proofpoint's anti-spam engine is continually evolving and learning from experience. Updates are securely and seamlessly delivered to Proofpoint customers on a regular basis, ensuring that they are always protected from the latest threats.

Proofpoint MLX technology is also used in other Proofpoint modules, using statistical techniques to classify documents for content security and monitoring network connections for malicious activity.

"Proofpoint's mission is to deliver the most comprehensive messaging security solutions for large enterprises. This means going beyond anti-spam and anti-virus protection and addressing the full range of in-bound and outbound messaging risks that plague companies today," said Proofpoint President and CEO Gary Steele. "With our newest solutions, Proofpoint has defined itself as the clear industry leader in providing complete messaging security for enterprises, universities and government organizations worldwide."

Pricing and Availability

Proofpoint Protection Server 3.0 will be generally available at the end of November, 2004. Annual pricing for Proofpoint Protection Server with spam detection module ranges from $2 to $20 per user (depending on the number of email inboxes), including upgrades and regular anti-spam rule updates. Additional modules including anti-virus and content security modules are priced separately.

The Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway 3.0 will be available at the end of November, 2004. Pricing starts at $5750 for the hardware plus annual user license fees.

About Proofpoint, Inc.

Proofpoint provides messaging security solutions for large enterprises to stop spam, protect against email viruses and ensure compliance with corporate policies and regulations through their messaging infrastructure. The company's flagship products, the Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway(TM) and Proofpoint Protection Server(R) provide future-proof messaging security using Proofpoint MLX(TM) technology, an advanced machine learning system developed by Proofpoint scientists and engineers. Proofpoint was founded by technology visionary and former CTO of Netscape Communications, Eric Hahn. The Cupertino, California-based company is funded by investors including Benchmark Capital, Inventures Group, Meritech Capital, Mohr, Davidow Ventures, and RRE Ventures. For more information, please visit www.proofpoint.com.

NOTE: Proofpoint, Proofpoint MLX, MLX Dynamic Reputation, Proofpoint Email Firewall, Proofpoint Messaging Security Gateway, and Proofpoint Protection Server are trademarks or registered trademarks of Proofpoint Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

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