AT&T, Cisco offer new firewall security

SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. firms AT&T Inc. and Cisco Systems have produced a new firewall security protection service.

AT&T said in a statement July 30 it was offering a new Premise-Based Cisco ASA option.

The addition to AT&T's managed security services portfolio "has been developed for customers of all sizes and has ideal features for small and midsized businesses," the company said.

"The AT&T Premises Based Cisco ASA Firewall Option combines AT&T's firewall software solutions with scalable, end-to-end management, monitoring and maintenance to help customers better protect their Internet infrastructure," the company said. "The customer can locate services such as those for Web access and electronic mail in the protected network and can control access to those servers."

AT&T said details of the service could be accessed through its BusinessDirect Web portal.

"The fully managed firewall service makes enforcement of customer's security policy an inherent part of the network across Intranet-, Extranet-, and Internet-based communications," the company said. "The AT&T Premises Based Cisco ASA Firewall Option is available bundled with AT&T's Managed Internet Service or as a stand-alone service to use on any Internet service provider's connection."

"The AT&T Managed Firewall Service -- Cisco ASA Option has been developed for small and midsized businesses that require dedicated firewall appliances to protect their network, while also providing outbound connections and reliable Internet access," said John Regan, vice president of Small Business Segment Marketing for AT&T.

"We are extremely pleased to build on our long-standing relationship with AT&T to help further its capabilities in managed security services delivery," said Al Safarikas, senior director of marketing at Cisco. "Both the demand for managed business services and the recognition of the need for protected systems are increasing. Customer-focused providers such as AT&T are leading the way toward truly making the network the platform for the way we work, and enabling business customers to stay focused on their core businesses by outsourcing important but complex network capabilities."