SmoothWall releases major new versions of all software products every two years. In-between major version upgrades, customers are issued a series of Feature Packs containing new features, enhancements to existing features and security patches.
Feature Packs are usually applied with a single click via the web interface. In this way, products can be updated incrementally on a more regular basis, without the need to download and reinstall new versions.
Click the links below for more information about individual feature pack contents.
* Late addition to FP4, due for release June 2010
- Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) – Goes beyond existing IDS by reacting to (as opposed to logging) malicious activity/network intrusion attempts
- FTP proxy – allows FTP traffic to be monitored and controlled through a proxy
- PSK for L2TP - allows PCs and iPhones to connect via VPN to a SmoothWall without any certificate or software installation
- Support for multiple Active Directory servers - allows more complex networks to be supported with minimum fuss
- Group prioritization - provides more accurate mapping of AD groups to Guardian policies
- * Anti-Virus Scanning of FTP traffic - to detect infected files using integrated VIPRE AV
- Multiple authentication types (including NTLM and SSL login) available on a single proxy, easing configuration in mixed operating system networks or those with guest wifi
- Per User Filtering bespoke policy creation for up to 50 individual users
- Port-based Authentication better support for networks requiring multiple authentication methods, e.g. mixed PC/Mac networks
- Automated Blocklist Feedback non-categorized sites are automatically returned to SmoothWall for manual analysis/blocklist incorporation on a daily basis (user option)
- * Sunbelt VIPRE Anti-Malware (chargeable subscription) replacement of CLAM AV engine with market-leading VIPRE behavior-based proactive threat protection
- * Anti-Malware Blocklist Category integration of Sunbelt ThreatTrack database of known malware-infected/distributing sites, updated many times a day.
- * Sunbelt VIPRE Anti-Virus Scanning (chargeable subscription) replacement of CLAM with VIPRE AV scanning of SMTP/POP3 email
- Reporting: Reworked importer to reduce load on systems with heavy traffic
- Improved backup system, resulting in lower disk usage, and faster restores
- Flash Filtering – filters the actual content of Flash files. Allows online games and other time-wasting flash objects to be more accurately blocked. Also prevents security exploits hiding in malformed swf files and detects the use of video players.
- Egress Monitoring – blocks and reports on uploads to the web (i.e. inappropriate blog/forum/SN/Twitter posts) using a keyword alert system.
- More Frequent Blocklist Updates – Guardian now checks for updates every hour and downloads updates to blocklists and other security settings on first boot.
- Improved Support for Multiple Upstream Proxies – configuration options have never been so flexible! Guardian now supports unlimited numbers of upstream proxies with failover backups. Individual upstream proxies can also be used for individual websites.
- Improved ProxyPac – brings scalability advantages for larger networks. Allows administrators to exclude specific hosts from proxied connections.
- Room-Based Blocking Improvements – new controls on the User Interface allow more rooms (and bigger rooms) to be added more easily. Room based blocking can also now be controlled locally (and delegated) via the user portal.
- Block page improvements – Template page is much tidier now!
- Blind Logging – (Privacy feature) Allows administrators to log the volume, but not the actual content of messages on a per user basis.
- SSL VPN Improvements – additions to improve the implementation of SSL VPN in larger enterprises (including new openvpn client, custom up-down scripts, etc).
- Database Health – improved visibility over database health for more efficient maintenance.
- First Boot Wizard - Sets up the basics automatically (e.g. system time) to make initial configuration process easier.
- SSL Interception - Guardian can now perform Dynamic Content Analysis on HTTPS (SSL) secured websites (also known as HTTPS Man in the Middle or MITM). This will further improve Guardian's SSL proxy blocking record, but also means all secure content can be scanned for security vulnerabilities (i.e. viruses, malware, browser exploits etc).
- Improved Search Term Blocking and Reporting - Search terms are now analyzed more carefully, with the option to run reports on common search terms.
- Block Page Templates - Users can now configure their own blockpage templates instead of altering the default version. Templates have placeholders for standard blockpage elements (e.g. category, reason for the block, username and temporary unblock controls).
- More Groups - Users can now apply different filter policies to up to 100 separate groups of users (useful for larger networks).
- Load Balancer Support - Guardian now supports the widely used DSR (Direct Server Return) load balancing method (useful for clustered multiple installations of Guardian).
- Authentication improvements:
- Increased number of authentication groups - Now up to 100 groups can be used to define outgoing firewall, inter-zone bridging, VPN and web filter access policies against directory services such as Active Directory, eDirectory and OpenLDAP.
- Ability to query a directory service for users against multiple LDAP search roots.
- Ability to enter a custom NetBIOS domain name when it differs from the AD domain name.
- Ability to use pre-windows 2000 compatible usernames when authenticating against an Active Directory infrastructure.
- Internal SSL VPN - Allows SSL VPN connections to be made inside the network, facilitating secure access to services from restricted internal zones such as wireless and public access networks.
- Streamlined DHCP Setup Process - Get up and running with a new network in record time with expedited DHCP configuration routines.
- CA Manager - Review and modify all certificate authority based operations used throughout the system from one location.
- Suspicious Activity Monitor - Generate administrator alerts when breaches are made to stealth firewall rules.
- Support for Encrypted Instant Messaging (Jabber/GoogleTalk) - Jabber and GoogleTalk use SSL, which Guardian now intercepts to provide the same level of control as with non-SSL IM networks and applications (logging, blocking, censoring, removing attachments).
- IM Blocked Response - Users can now get responses direct to their messaging clients when chats are logged or blocked (i.e. 'Your message or file was blocked').
- Per User Quarantine - Allows each email address to have a separate quarantine as opposed to a single mailbox. Users receive a daily report of "spam-trapped" email which they can then use to view and release email.
- User Activity Report - A report to show how many emails each user sends or receives.
- Improved Real Time Log Viewer - New options to filter by category or group.
- URL Interpretation Report - An advancement of the YouTube Top Videos Report - it is now possible to do similar 'URL-specific' reports for any website.
- Temporary Banned Report - See who is temporarily banned at a glance.
- Web Trends Report - Shows 'top sites' as trends so browsing behavior changes can easily be identified.
- Browsing Time Reports - See exactly how long any particular user has spent browsing the web during any day, week or month.
- Wide Range of Built-in Templates - Includes 350+ predefined templates for the majority of reporting uses, removing the need for administrators to create templates.
- General Improvements to All Reports - Many more options to "drill-down" on report data, feed forward reports into other reports and group report options between segments.
- New Help System - More searchable and fully indexed, context-sensitive facility.
- TypeAhead Widget - Because typing is boring and inputting individual user names when your network runs to thousands can be very irritating.
- Improved scalability via WCCP Version 2 - Enables better configuration of Guardian in larger, more complicated network environments & facilitates improved integration with Cisco firewalls.
- SSL Proxy blocking - Improved blocking controls for HTTPS proxies such as UltraSurf.
- Temporary Banned User List - Ban selected users until a selected date or time.
- Temporary Bypass Log - At a glance information on the use of Guardian's bypass controls.
- Individual User Browsing Report - View the entire browsing history of a single user.
- QoS by URL - Limit bandwidth rates for specific URLs (e.g. YouTube).
- YouTube Top Videos Report - View a list of thumbnails showing the top most viewed YouTube videos with drill-down controls to show who is viewing which videos and when.
- Port Forwarding Improvements - Enables local clients to more easily address port-forwarded servers.
- Extended DHCP options - For improved compatibility with VoIP phones.
- Control & logging of file transfers - Log or block file transfers / attachments via IM.
- MessageCensor - In-built word censoring list including mis-spellings & an alert function for selected words/phrases.
- Support for Gadu-Gadu - Integrated support for the popular Polish messaging application (handy for organizations with Polish staff).
- Tunnel traffic monitoring - Monitor HTTP traffic within a tunnel, (makes IM controls easier to use for customers with standalone versions of Guardian).
- New IM reports - Generate new reports on IM including time spent messaging and number of chat friends per user.
- Per domain disclaimers - Attach different disclaimer messages to outgoing emails coming from different domains.
- Partial domain matching - Partial domains can now be matched & included in blacklists & whitelists.
- Mailshell Anti-Spam 3.0 - Latest version of Mailshell Anti-Spam engine with faster performance, improved accuracy, 3x more rules, custom overrides, blocking of spoof domains & mailserver blocking by country (amongst other features).
- Improved time controls - Generate reports based on time parameters as well as date.
- Editable templates - Edit report templates to suit your specific needs.
- Section Groups - Group certain reports into sections on a per-user basis.
- User Portal - Provide selected users (or groups of users) with limited access for viewing reports/logs and downloading SSL VPN clients.
- Setup Wizard - Set up reminders to guide new users.
- Process monitoring & hard disk healthcare alerts - Keep an eye on critical network security processes & hard disk drives.
- Backups - Improved backup of logs
- IPSec tunnel status log - At a glance viewing of IPSec tunnel status
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