Volume Number: 23 (2007)
Issue Number: 01
Column Tag: Real World Review

Focus Review: Juniper/Netscreen Protection

Today's big bad world presents its challenges...

By Marianne Shilpa Jacobie and Neil Ticktin

For whatever reason, there's a group of people out there in the world who think it's fun or right to poke around and disrupt networks that are not theirs. As a result, we have more secure networks today that include routers and switches, firewalls, and VPNs (virtual private networks).

One of the biggest brands in the security business is NetScreen, which is part of Juniper Networks. Juniper has a variety of offerings, but we're going to focus on three products: the NetScreen 25, the SA 2000 and the NetScreen 5GT Wireless.

The NetScreen 25 (and the 50) are security appliances. These are integrated devices that target the enterprise "branch" office as well as remote offices, and small to medium-sized businesses. The idea is that this box protects the perimeter of your network from unwanted activities.

The NetScreen-25 offers 100Mbps of firewall and 20 Mbps of VPN performance. It can support 32,000 concurrent sessions, and 125 VPN tunnels. The NetScreen-50 offers even greater capacity: 170 Mbps of firewall and 45 Mbps of 3DES or AES VPN performance, with support for 64,000 concurrent sessions, and 500 VPN tunnels.

NetScreen-25

The most important feature to the NetScreen-25/50 is that you plug it in, and it works. With little configuration, this box will immediately start protecting your network with various deep inspection firewall services, denial of service protection, and more.

This is a very capable box, and we watched it prove it's worth in stopping attacks cold that came from all over the world. It's amazing how many times networks get attacked, and the NetScreen-25 just deals with it ... cleanly and transparently.

Finally, take your pick of interfaces to match your managing style: Web UI, CLI, or NetScreen's Security Manager central management system application.

At $2,500 and up, street price, you'll more than make up for this in time on your first attack, or in creating VPNs. See http://www.juniper.net/products/integrated/ns_2550.html for more information

The Secure Access 2000 (SA 2000) SSL VPN was introduced to the Juniper Network Secure Access series in 2005. It utilizes the SSL security protocol, a secure access transport mechanism available in all standard web browsers. This enables small to medium-sized companies to provide controlled remote and extranet access to employees, partners, and clients with no infrastructure changes, DMZ deployments or software agents.

Juniper SA 2000

Apart from lowering the total cost of ownership, this function allows companies to secure access to the corporate intranet, enabling administrators to restrict access to various employees, contractors or visitors, based on the information and resources they need. The SA 2000 is based on industry-standard protocols, therefore its investment can be leveraged across many applications and resources over time. It also boasts extensive directory integration (including LDAP!) and advanced software feature sets such as multiple hostname support and a customizable user interface.

The SA 2000 series provides complete end-to-end layered security, including endpoint client, device, data and server layered security controls. The numerous security options from the end-user device to the application data and servers, also covers coordinated threat control with Juniper Network's IDP product line. Juniper's endpoint defense initiative incorporates native functionality, client and server-side API's (created in partnership with best-of-breed endpoint security vendors), and advanced malware protection capabilities. While this keeps your Mac systems secure, it really shines for those initially difficult-to-secure Windows machines.

With the native functionality, client computers can be checked at the beginning and throughout the session to verify an acceptable security posture requiring or requesting network ports. Files and processes can also be checked, and their authenticity validated with MD5 checksums. The native host checker also performs security and applications checks, and carries out pre-authentication checks and enforcement. Enterprises are also enabled to write their own host check method to customize policy checks. Again, this targets Windows machines, as they need this kind of help and monitoring.

The SA 2000's access privilege management capabilities provide dynamic controlled access at the URL, file, application and server-level. This is based on a variety of session specific variables that include identity, device, security control, and network trust level.

Streamlined manageability of Juniper's SA 2000 provides role-based delegation of administrative tasks and a central management option for more unified administration. There is also a self-service feature for users that lowers help-desk support costs. Auditing and logging is fine-grained, and there are three different secure access methods to allow administrators provision by purpose. The streamlined feature set that the SA 2000 comes with would enable an enterprise to deploy secure remote access as well as a basic customer/partner extranet or secure intranet.

A cluster pair deployment option for the SA 2000 ensures high-availability across the LAN and the WAN.

An advanced license feature for the SA 2000 provides additional state-of-the-art features that would satisfy the needs of other complex deployments of varied audiences and uses, including Juniper's Central Manager. You'll find the SA 2000 Base System for about $2,000, with the Advance License at an additional cost. More information at http://www.juniper.net/products_and_services/
ssl_vpn_secure_access/secure_access_2000/

Ok, so you have your VPN heart with the SA 2000, and your perimeter firewall with the NetScreen-25, what about remote office security? That's where the NetScreen-5GT comes in. The NetScreen-5GT is an enterprise-class network security solution for remote office security.

The NetScreen-5GT Wireless is a part in a series of firewall/VPN line of products offered from Juniper. It is part of an integrated security solution combining stateful firewall, deep inspection firewall, IPSec VPN, antivirus and web filtering for securing a small remote office, retail outlet, or broadband telecommuter.

The NetScreen-5GT is specifically aimed at those that want to run an 802.11 b/g wireless network in a secure setting. But it gives you some fairly sophisticated features including restricted security zones (e.g., home vs. work zones), configurable wireless security zones (each with their own SSID for different types of users), redundancy for high availability, support for dual connections, fast failovers with redundant VPN tunnels and VPN monitoring.

At a street price of around $1,000, it's a great, integrated solution for those that need a secure remote office or home office, and especially one that wants seamless VPN integration with an SA 2000. For more information, see http://www.juniper.net/products/integrated/ns_5series.html

You need to secure your network -- one way or another. If you aren't, you're asking for trouble. Once you do secure your network, run some reports, you'll realize how often people are trying to break in. Miss one patch of some piece of web server software? They will break in.

Juniper has a set of world-class products that will protect you without you needing to be a security expert (although, you do need to know what you're doing on some level -- there's no magic here). Whether you configure them to the hilt, or use them in a more plug-in-play environment, you'll have a level of protection that will give you peace of mind. While you may not want to pay $1,000 for a router, or more for VPN and firewall software, you are protecting your network for a reason. Juniper's offerings will give you an end-to-end solution, that works well with the Mac.

The editors of MacTech Magazine are a jolly crew who spend their work time playing with their Macs and their spare time working with their Macs. You can reach them at editorial@mactech.com.