SonicWALL Expands Deep Packet Protection With SSL Inspection for Midsized and Large Businesses

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SonicWALL, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNWL) , a leading secure network infrastructure company, today announced Deep Packet Inspection for SSL traffic as part of its latest SonicOS release. SonicOS 5.6 is an upgrade to its operating system for the latest generation SonicWALL TZ, NSA and E-Class NSA firewalls. SonicOS 5.6, among other features, brings protection from SonicWALL's powerful and revolutionary Re-Assembly Free Deep Packet Inspection (RFDPI) engine to SSL encrypted traffic. Available to all existing users of the company's latest generation firewall appliances with current support contracts, SonicOS 5.6 uses the intelligence from the company's GRID Network of more than four million endpoints and its in-house security research team to provide absolute security at the network gateway.

Today's network security threats continue to evolve and are increasingly being masked with SSL encryption to evade detection. Network administrators are also losing visibility into their networks as more and more encrypted applications attempt to avoid the HTTPS protocol to potentially bypass content filtering and leak valuable information or expose networks to attacks from malware. Enterprises, retailers and educational institutions all face significant risks to their network, with threats exacerbated by remote employees accessing the network from outside the organizational walls. With Deep Packet Inspection seamlessly applied to SSL traffic, organizations are able to counter these encrypted threats and preserve the integrity of their network.

"Encryption is obviously an essential tool in security. Yet encryption is now being used as a tool to defeat security," said Patrick Sweeney, Vice President, Product Management. "With SonicWALL's DPI-SSL inspection capabilities, companies can ensure that security tools are working for them, not against them. Companies are put back in control of the data that leaves their network while controlling what web sites users access."

SonicOS 5.6 introduces SonicWALL's new DPI-SSL feature, which does not rely on a proxy configuration on the end points to provide optimized protection against today's encrypted threats and to enforce corporate data policies. The technology can inspect inside all SSL sessions across all ports, independently of the protocol, resulting in both encrypted and decrypted data being scanned, monitored and protected. The technology can be deployed both for outbound connections from the clients or to inbound connections to the servers. Server side DPI-SSL service options include gateway anti-virus, gateway anti-spyware, intrusion prevention and application control.

SonicOS 5.6 also introduces USB 3G and Modem failover support to the NSA and E-Class NSA series, expanding this functionality from the TZ product line and adding an additional failover option for mission critical networks. The Terminal Services Agent allows transparent authentication and identification of users in such environments. Dynamic Routing over VPN brings another layer of network resilience and ease of administration by preserving traffic continuity on VPN networks when tunnels are temporarily disabled or while the VPN deployment is undergoing changes.About SonicWALL, Inc.

SonicWALL is committed to improving the performance and productivity of businesses of all sizes by engineering the cost and complexity out of running a secure network. Over one million SonicWALL appliances have been shipped through its global network of ten thousand channel partners to keep tens of millions of worldwide business computer users safe and in control of their data. SonicWALL's award-winning solutions include network security, secure remote access, content security, backup and recovery, and policy and management technology. For more information, visit the company web site at http://www.sonicwall.com/.

Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements regarding the benefits associated with SonicOS 5.6 upgrade, the benefits associated with the SonicWALL RFDPI engine, the benefits associated with the DPI-SSL feature and the benefits associated with the USB 3G and Modem failover support. These forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the time the statements are made and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. In addition, please see the "Risk Factors" described in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, for a more detailed description of the risks facing our business. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to SonicWALL as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement.

NOTE: SonicWALL is a registered trademark of SonicWALL, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.