Zyxel USG FLEX Firewall Series

Main article: Firewall

2021: Integration with Zyxel Nebula

On April 2, 2021, Zyxel Networks announced the inclusion of USG FLEX series firewalls in the list of devices supported by the Zyxel Nebula centralized network management system. Using the ZLD5.0 firmware version, USG FLEX firewalls add intelligent network security to Nebula. More details here.

2020

USG FLEX 100W and USG FLEX 700 firewalls presentation

On November 23, 2020, Zyxel Networks announced the release in Russia and the CIS of two firewalls USG FLEX 100W and USG FLEX 700 along with a version of the ZLD 4.60 firmware, which improves the functionality and responsiveness of the entire line of security gateways of the company. Firewalls and the firmware version improve the ability of small and medium businesses (SMBs) to implement flexible security to protect against a wide variety of cyber threats and keep businesses running in a pandemic.

According to the recently published 2020 Threat Landscape report by ENISA, the number of cyber attacks continues to increase as companies move to a new phase of digital business transformation. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digitalization, as many companies had to urgently transfer all their personnel to remote operation to continue business operations. This dramatic change in business practices has made it much more difficult to protect SMB networks, as most of them have a very limited budget for IT and resources.

To extend the range available for SMB, Zyxel introduced two USG FLEX series security gateways: an entry-level firewall with an integrated USG FLEX 100W wireless access point and a senior USG FLEX 700 firewall that can simultaneously serve up to 800 connected clients. The USG FLEX Series firewalls are versatile business solutions that not only provide reliable and scalable security for the enterprise network, but also remote VPN access, Wi-Fi access point management, and all hot spot management functionality.

ZLD 4.60 firmware, released by Zyxel, provides an increase in SSL traffic inspection performance of 3-5 over previous firmware versions. This is achieved by field testing of Zyxel firewalls using a protocol HTTPS with default device settings: enabled routing functions, and firewall NAT ADP.

This means that using existing USG FLEX hardware, traffic encryption/decryption can be significantly accelerated and the delays associated with certificate generation reduced.

Enhanced SSL inspection also supports the version of the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol used to protect traffic between servers and their clients. Support for the TLS 1.3 protocol will help Zyxel users more effectively repel the most dangerous cyber attacks.

In addition to the existing IP address reputation and URL services, the ZLD 4.60 firmware implements a DNS reputation service based on McAfee technologies. These three services, used in the Zyxel ATP series of products, provide a comprehensive, reliable solution that prevents users from visiting compromised domains containing dangerous content and blocks access to certain sites. Reputation analysis data can be easily viewed in the Zyxel SecuReporter console, so network administrators can always monitor users visiting suspicious domains, risks, and types of search service requests.

Now that the pandemic has forced many companies to relocate their employees to remote locations, the need for long-term protection has soared for small and medium-sized businesses. Two new USG FLEX firewalls and ZLD 4.60 firmware with enhanced network security functionality will help SMB solve this problem. Irrespective of restrictions of resources and the budget for IT the clients by means of our firewalls can organize the reliable, protected and scalable connection with the employees working from the house - noted Nathan Yen, Senior Vice President (AVP) of Zyxel Gateway Business Center

Zyxel USG FLEX100/200/500 firewalls view

On June 1, 2020, it became known that Zyxel Networks introduced a series of mid-range firewalls USG FLEX, with the help of which small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) will be able to maintain safe communication with their remote personnel during the pandemic and after it ends.

According to the developer, in Zyxel USG FLEX100/200/500 firewalls compared to the previous Zyxel USG series, up to 125% increased firewall performance and up to 500% Unified Threat Management UTM performance. In addition to an enhanced, scalable network information security system, firewalls provide remote WOULD access, wireless access point management, and all hot spot management functionality, allowing you to use them as a universal network solution.

As noted in Zyxel, the USG FLEX series firewalls support the Zyxel Cloud Query service based on constantly updated cloudy databases threat information, which collects information from numerous sources. This database data stores samples malicious code received from independent research laboratories and information about threats identified by Zyxel firewalls installed around the world. This allows you to effectively defend against zero-day attacks. Using artificial intelligence algorithm Cloud Query classifies threats and determines the risk level of each of them so that the company can to identify take the most dangerous of them and quickly take the necessary protection measures.

According to the developer, USG FLEX firewalls increase productivity from home, providing the ability to create flexible and secure VPN connections to the corporate network. Including IPsec-based VPN, SSL, and L2TP over IPsec. Fully automatic configuration of the Zero-configuration connection reduces the burden on the IT department of the company and allows the employee to independently establish work from home. The integrated wireless access point controller provides WiFi network management without the need for an additional controller.

According to June 2020, customers who want to upgrade their USG equipment to USG FLEX can use their existing licenses instead of buying new ones. You can separately purchase licenses to activate security services (content filter, antivirus or analytics and reporting service Zyxel SecuReporter Premium) or purchase the entire package of licenses for UTM security license bundle security services. A specialized package of services for the hospitality industry is also offered.

"In order to continue doing business in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies need to provide secure and secure access to their corporate network for employees working remotely. The USG FLEX series of firewalls is a secure, flexible solution suitable for SMB customers[1]. noted Nathan Yen, Vice President (AVP) of Zyxel and Head of Zyxel Gateway Business Unit

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