Stonesoft Corporation

Stonesoft Corporation was a public company that developed and sold network security solutions based in Helsinki, Finland. It was publicly owned until 2013 when it was acquired by Intel's subsidiary McAfee.[4]

Stonesoft Corporation
TypeDivision
IndustryNetwork Security
FateAcquired by Forcepoint (2016)
FoundedHelsinki, Finland (1990 (1990))
FounderIlkka Hiidenheimo
Hannu Turunen
Headquarters
Helsinki
,
Finland
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Ilkka Hiidenheimo
(Chairman & CEO)
Juha Kivikoski
(COO)
Mikael Nyberg
(CFO)[1]
Jarno Limnéll
(Cyber Security Director[2])
ProductsNetwork security
Firewall
IPS
VPN
Security appliances
Virtual appliances
Number of employees
222 (Dec 2011)[3]
ParentForcepoint
Websitestonesoft.com

Stonesoft does business globally, with a regional headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and sales offices throughout Europe, the Middle East, and China.

In July, 2013 McAfee, a part of Intel Security, completed a tender offer to acquire all Stonesoft products and technologies. Stonesoft became a part of the McAfee Network Security Business Unit. Stonesoft firewall products were renamed McAfee Next Generation Firewall. McAfee sold Stonesoft to Forcepoint in January 2016.[5]

History

Stonesoft started as a systems integrator in the Nordic regions of Europe. In 1994 it introduced StoneBeat, a technology for creating a high availability pair of firewalls in an active-passive configuration. In 1999, the company extended StoneBeat with a patented load balancing clustering technology,[6] launching StoneBeat FullCluster. It was one of the first technologies certified in Check Point's OPSEC program.[7]

In 2001, Stonesoft expanded its product set into the firewall/VPN space, becoming a direct competitor to Check Point. The StoneGate Firewall/VPN was launched on March 19, 2001. In January 2003, the company introduced the first virtual firewall/VPN solution, for IBM mainframes.[8]

In 2010, the company released information via CERT-FI[9] on Advanced Evasion technique (AETs) that met with skepticism in the community. Further AETs were released in 2011, and eventually verified by independent labs and researchers.[10][11][12]

In 2012 “Stonesoft” replaced the “StoneGate” product name. From now on, Stonesoft is used both as the company and product name.

Stonesoft Corporation's product sales for Q3 2012 were circa 5.6 million euros. The product sales grew by approximately 18%. The Q3 net sales were approximately 9.2–9.3 million euros, which equals a growth by14-16%. The growth was lower than expected.[13]

Products

Its product portfolio includes firewall/VPN devices, IPS (intrusion detection and prevention systems), and SSL VPN systems,[14] each available as hardware appliances, software, and VMware-certified virtual appliances.[15]

Each of the components, as well as third-party devices, can be managed from the Stonesoft Management Center.[16] The product portfolio differentiates through unique clustering and load balancing technologies based on the company's older StoneBeat technology, originally developed for Check Point FireWall-1.

Stonesoft's current product portfolio can be divided into five major categories:[14]

  • Stonesoft Firewall/VPN
  • Stonesoft IDS/IPS
  • Stonesoft SSL VPN
  • Stonesoft Management Center (SMC)
  • Stonesoft Virtualization Solutions

The Stonesoft Firewall/VPN has placed in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Network Firewalls for several years, and is currently placed in the niche quadrant.[17] Gartner notes that Stonesoft "serves a set of placements well – usually, high availability is key or when the leaders are otherwise not welcome".[17] The Stonesoft firewall/VPN is regarded for its "robust performance and feature set relative to company resources, and it has a loyal customer base".[17]

The Stonesoft IPS has also placed in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Network Intrusion Prevention, currently in the “visionaries” quadrant.[18] It is also certified by ICSA Labs Network Intrusion Prevention and Detection category, and is one of only four vendors in the consortium to achieve that certification.[19] Stonesoft has also received favorable reviews from NSS Labs for both the next generation firewall capability (2012) and the intrusion detection and prevention system.[20][21]

Controversy

In 2008, the Helsinki Court of Appeal issued a decision in a case brought against Stonesoft and several members of its management team. The court "held that two members of the company's board of directors and a former CEO through gross negligence had failed to give a profit warning in due time".[22] The issue at hand was discrepancies between the profitability forecasted in the company's year 2000 interim reports and the actual state of the company at that time. The reports indicated the company was sound and profitable, yet "a profit warning should in fact have been issued".[22] The District Court of Helsinki had originally dismissed the claims in a decision on November 15, 2006.[23]

Advanced Evasion Techniques

In 2010 Stonesoft informed the public about a new evasion technique that can bypass security defences. Stonesoft defines the Advanced Evasion Techniques (AETs) as ”virtually limitless in quantity and unrecognizable by conventional detection methods. They can work on all levels of the TCP/IP stack and work across many protocols or protocol combinations.” [12]

According to Max Nyman, Stonesoft Corporation's Senior Marketing Manager, AETs can deliver malicious code without detection and without leaving trace.[24]

On July 23, 2012 Stonesoft released a free tool that enables organisations to test their network security.[25]

References
  1. "McAfee Next Generation Firewall and McAfee Firewall Enterprise - Intel Security". Stonesoft.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  2. Reuters Editorial (24 May 2012). "Stonesoft appoints Jarno Limnéll as Director, Cyber Security". Reuters.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  3. "Annual Report 2011" (PDF). Stonesoft.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2018.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. "Press Releases". Stonesoft.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  5. "Acquisition of Stonesoft (McAfee Next Generation Firewall) and Sidewinder (McAfee Firewall Enterprise) - Forcepoint". blogs.forcepoint.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  6. "United States Patent: 6856621 - Method of transmission of data in cluster environment". Patft.uspto.gov. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  7. "Technology Partners". Check Point Software. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  8. "Error". Web.archive.org. 3 April 2011. Archived from the original on 3 April 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  9. Viestintävirasto. "Viestintävirasto -". www.cert.fi. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  10. "The BIG Question". Isaca.org. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  11. "Maybe the initial discoveries were just the tip of an iceberg". Icsalabs.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  12. "Should you panic? An Advanced Evasion Techniques overview". Thetechherald.com. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  13. "Press Releases". Stonesoft.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  14. "McAfee Next Generation Firewall and McAfee Firewall Enterprise - Intel Security". Stonesoft.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  15. "Virtual Appliances - Solution Exchange". Vmware.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  16. "McAfee Next Generation Firewall and McAfee Firewall Enterprise - Intel Security". Stonesoft.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  17. "Value Added Distributor of IT Security Solutions - Exclusive Networks" (PDF). Exclusive Networks UK.
  18. "Press Releases". Stonesoft.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  19. "ICSA Labs". Icsalabs.com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  20. "Next Generation Firewall Reviews & Comparisons - Learn More!". Web.archive.org. 18 June 2012. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2018.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  21. "Network Intrusion Prevention System Comparisons & Reviews - Learn More!". Web.archive.org. 20 June 2012. Archived from the original on 20 June 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  23. "THE DECISION OF THE HELSINKI COURT OF APPEAL CONCERNING ALLEGED DELAY OF STONESOFT'S PROFIT WARNING IN FEBRUARY 2001". EuroInvestor.
  24. Eduard Kovacs (14 June 2012). "Softpedia Exclusive Interview: Max Nyman on Advanced Evasion Techniques". Softpedia.com.
  25. "Stonesoft Pen Testing Tool Uses Advanced Evasion Techniques, Firm Says". Securityweek.Com. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
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