Product FAQ - aXs GUARD Gatekeeper

aXs GUARD is a total All-in-1 solution to Internet communications and security. Situated between your company's LAN and the Internet, aXs GUARD comprises a mix of hardware, software and support, and is completely customizable, making it an affordable solution to SMEs .

aXs GUARD manages and secures surfing, e-mail, VPN connections between subsidiaries and for home workers, website hosting, etc., while protecting against viruses and other risks from the Internet. aXs GUARD keeps hackers out, allows monitoring of who does what and when on the Internet, filters unwanted mail (SPAM), restricts downloads, blocks unwanted e-mail attachments (such as ".exe" and ".mp3") and so much more...

With more than a 1000 installations, the concept has been proven in companies, institutes and public authorities with between 2 and 1500 users.

What features does aXs GUARD offer?

aXs GUARD is designed to meet the needs of organizations working across networks in the virtual business world. The greatest survival needs of these organizations are secure networked communications and being able to audit and control what's happening in their networked communications. These four challenges, communication, security, control and visibility are specifically focused by the software and third party modules offered with the aXs GUARD. Clients select the modules from these categories that they need for their organization. Examples are:

firewall

VPN

anti-virus control

e-mail server

content scanning

hacker detection

connection with Microsoft Active Directory

shared diaries and folders between users

network fax

dial in via ISDN or PSTN

statistics and reporting

..... visit our à la Carte Web page for a full features list

What is aXs GUARD à la Carte?

You may not need everything which aXs GUARD offers, or you may already have hardware or software providing some of its services. The uniqueness of the aXs GUARD à la Carte concept is that you design your own system according to your specific needs, just as you would eat "à la Carte" in a restaurant.

With aXs GUARD à la Carte, you customize the design of your aXs GUARD using the "à la Carte Configurator", selecting specifically what you need today for your situation, from more than 20 software modules. The configurator takes into account the required performance and any additional hardware needs (for example multiple Internet connections), and offers the appropriate aXs GUARD platform. Together with a maintenance contract, rapid and simple installation and user training on site, you have a unique solution and all your current Internet needs are resolved.

Should you require additional functionality later, this can simply be activated by entering a license code. No additional intervention or installation costs are necessary. Hardware extensions and system upgrades are also possible at any time.

What are aXs GUARD software modules?

Software modules provide units of functionality in one of the four areas essential to secure Internet communications: Communication, Security, Control and Visibility. Over 20 modules are available from which to choose those which your organization needs to design your own aXs GUARD "à la Carte". See under Features below for examples, or visit our Products page.

What are the advantages of aXs GUARD ?

aXs GUARD is a single cost-effective appliance to meet all your Internet Communications and Security needs:

Modular (you choose only the modules you need)--> grows with your company;
All-inclusive --> hardware + software + maintenance + support;
Robust system --> maximized system uptime, business and employee productivity;
Reliable supplier --> excellent support for help and queries;
Easy to manage --> no expensive in house Security or IT staff required;
Automatic updating --> proactive security rather than fire-fighting

What are aXs GUARD performance points?

aXs GUARD performance points are calculated in the à la Carte Configurator, based on the number of users, computers or connections, and the software modules selected when you design your aXs GUARD. The result provides an indicator of the minimal aXs GUARD hardware performance required to meet the needs of your organization. The Configurator only offers the hardware platforms which are capable of the performance needed for the number of users and the software modules you select.

The performance of the various hardware models is also indicated in the model naming, for example the

What is the aXs GUARD operating system?

aXs GUARD is based on a Linux operating system independent from any Linux distribution. It can be integrated in any kind of network running TCP/IP. The basic operating system includes:

the administrator's tool (accessible through a Web browser);
Router;
Network Address Translation;
Port forwarding;
Port redirection;
DHCP server;
Network time server;
Secure password checker.

Why is aXs GUARD à la Carte a cost-effective solution?

The aXs GUARD à la Carte minimizes the Total Cost of Ownership:

aXs GUARD à la Carte means you can design your own solution - you only pay for what you need;
Modular design, so you can activate extra software modules or upgrade hardware with no loss of initial investment;
Single sourced hardware, software, updates, maintenance, support and training – a single supplier with an outstanding all-in-one product;
Installed within a few hours with no costly system downtime;
Simple to use, so you don't need to pay for specialist in-house staff;
Maximized system uptime defends your business and employee productivity.

Why should I buy aXs GUARD?

aXs GUARD was first launched in 1996 and in the 8 years that the product has been in use, 97% of our clients have remained loyal. They are convinced of its long term reliability and flexibility for continuous modernization. While aXs GUARD protects their Internet communications, customers can rest assured, and concentrate fully on their business.

aXs GUARD was also recently evaluated by the leading Data TestLab authority, as by far the most superior to any International equivalent.

Where do I buy aXs GUARD?

aXs GUARD is distributed worldwide through a network of dealers based in the Benelux, England, Portugal, Scandinavia and the Middle East. View our list of dealers and their contact information, or send an e-mail to sales@axsGUARD.com.

Security

What does my organization need protection against?

Companies need to protect their networks and computers against disruptive activities that are possible through Internet connections. These can be costly and highly detrimental to business operations:

Employees unable to work due to network disruption and system downtime;
Competitors accessing Company Confidential Information;
Company data being destroyed or corrupted;
Business credibility being sabotaged through website vandalism;
Junk e-mails clogging up your systems, causing unnecessary network loading, and reducing employee productivity;
Employees wasting company time and resources, surfing the Internet;
Your business services being unavailable to clients due to Denial of Service attacks.

Does the simplicity in managing the aXs GUARD mean it's less secure than other Firewalls?

No. The aXs GUARD differs only in how you administrate the Firewall. The aXs GUARD is protected, and protects your network against all known attacks such as Ping of Death, Syn flooding, and Packet spoofing. Specialist organizations such as Vigilante consistently fail to break through when testing the aXs GUARD firewall. The majority of Able clients opt for a Maintenance contract, which provides them with regular product upgrades, so that they benefit from the dynamic and state-of-the-art security defense offered by Able developers.

aXs GUARD was first launched in 1996 and in the 7 years that the product has been in use, 97% of our clients have remained loyal. They are convinced of its long term reliability and flexibility for continuous modernization. While aXs GUARD protects their Internet communications, customers can rest assured, and concentrate fully on their business.

How can I prevent users from choosing easily hacked passwords?

Users tend to use easy to remember passwords which are vulnerable to hackers. By default, the basic aXs GUARD operating system includes a secure password checker, which customers can choose to enable. With this option enabled, newly entered passwords are checked, and if vulnerable, rejected.

Is the anti-virus software always up-to-date?

The anti-virus software on aXs GUARD checks for an update every 15 minutes and will auto-install every new patch or scanning engine. For dial-up connections, the check is performed whenever a connection is made.

Customers

Who is the target customer for the aXs GUARD?

If you have a computer network and you need Secure Internet Communications, aXs GUARD is designed for you.

The new à la carte approach positions this robust technology within the reach of SMEs whose Internet security budgets rarely exceed 1250 Euros, whilst also remaining available to subsidiaries of large organizations, for example for VPN connections. With aXs GUARD à la Carte you only pay for what you need.

With more than a 1000 installations, the concept has been proved in companies, institutes and public authorities with between 1 and 1500 users.

aXs GUARD and e-mail

Can I retrieve mail from external POP3 mailboxes, and will this mail be scanned for viruses?

Yes. You can configure aXs GUARD to retrieve and forward mail from external mailboxes for specific users. The aXs GUARD initiates the POP3 to the mail server, downloads and scans the mails with anti-virus software (providing this option is activated), and forwards the mail to the addressees' internal mailbox.

Can I block unwanted e-mails (spam)?

Yes. An intelligent scanning mechanism rates incoming mail messages to detect spam, based on header and content criteria. If a message reaches the configured rating threshold, its subject line is marked for further filtering in the mail client, or the e-mail can be deleted immediately.

Can I use aXs GUARD with MS-Exchange, Lotus Notes, cc:Mail, etc.?

Yes. The aXs GUARD is used in these environments as router, firewall, address translator and protection system. The aXs GUARD will securely accept e-mail for your and other Internet domains, and pass them via SMTP to your existing e-mail system. The advantage is that your existing e-mail system will be protected against attacks such as e-mail relaying and spamming, protection features which are seldom available in such systems.

Can I back-up incoming and outgoing mail?

Yes. You can back-up e-mails based on a variety of filters. For example, you can back up all mail received or sent by certain users, or all mail received from certain senders.

Can I filter e-mail or block potentially dangerous attachments?

Yes. Mail filters are assigned to groups of users, and restrict the users from sending or receiving e-mail file attachments with certain extensions such as ".vbs" or ".exe".

E-mail filtering can be by domain, by e-mail address, by attachment extension, and/or assessed value of the mail, a technique known as spam filtering. Filtering based on domain names, restricts which domains users are allowed to exchange messages with. An example would be limiting message exchange to within the company.

aXs GUARD and Internet connections

Which Internet connection types does the aXs GUARD support?

You can choose any connection to the Internet using dial-up, xDSL, cable or Leased-line.

ADSL: aXs GUARD supports all ADSL connections through its own ADSL interface or through an Ethernet connection towards the ADSL router/modem, for example Belgium ADSL Go, Plus, Pro, Office and Premium are supported out of the box.
xDSL: aXs GUARD connects to the xDSL modem through an Ethernet connection.
Cable: aXs GUARD connects to the Cable modem through an Ethernet connection.
Leased Line: aXs GUARD connects with the leased line through its own leased line interface.
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Can I use multiple Internet connections at the same time?

Yes. aXs GUARD is a multi gateway router. For example, you can connect a leased line to the leased line interface to be used for e-mail or VPN and at the same time connect an ADSL Go Internet connection (low price broadband access) to the ADSL interface for surfing. This avoids bandwidth saturation from VPN operations from preventing other business communication activities.

aXs GUARD and web access

What possibilities are there for managing and monitoring users' Web access?

First of all you will need the Statistics and reporting module.
Users' access to the Web is routed through the proxy server on the aXs GUARD, which logs all activities. These logs can be viewed with the browser or the log files can be downloaded by FTP for more detailed analysis. The proxy server also allows filtering of Web access, based on website addresses and time restrictions.

How can you prevent users from having access to certain Web applications?

Services such as "chat" "FTP" or "ICQ" require specific permissions per workstation if traffic is routed through the aXs GUARD proxy server. You can configure for Web access from all or any workstations always to be routed through the proxy server, so that you can control such activities.

VPN/ Remote access

What is a VPN and what can I use it for?

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) provides authorized external users secure access to internal private networks, using authentication and encryption to ensure data integrity and confidentiality. Using a VPN, remote users can work from home or elsewhere, accessing files on the network, as though they were working in the office. VPNs can also provide secure communication channels between branch offices of an organization.

Can I create a VPN using aXs GUARD?

Yes. You can create two types:

You can provide remote users secure access to your organization's internal LAN using the remote access VPN based on Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP).
You can also link networks between offices, for example, using the Network-to-Network VPN, which uses IPSec.

Installation of aXs GUARD

How easy is it to install an aXs GUARD?

Simple. Connection time is less than 2 hours with no system downtime:

aXs GUARD is delivered with all the necessary hardware and software inbuilt, and the network interfaces you order are pre-installed.
We connect one of the aXs GUARD network interfaces to your LAN's switch or hub and a second one to your Internet gateway.

Using one of the workstations on your LAN, we open the Administrator's tool through the Web browser and configure the initial settings to meet your security and communication needs.

Configuration of aXs GUARD

How do I configure or manage an aXs GUARD?

aXs GUARD is managed through a graphical user interface, which is easily accessed through a Web browser and uses logical menu structures and natural language for intuitive use. Any changes you need to make are easily configurable through this user friendly interface, with context-sensitive on-screen help.

Do I need to be a computer expert to work with aXs GUARD?

No. High-level security or computer expertise is not required to operate and maintain an aXs GUARD. Training is provided on site following delivery and installation, context-sensitive help files support configuration, and explanations of the aXs GUARD and its Administrator's tool can be viewed on screen from within the tool, or can be printed for reference.

Can I do anything to accidentally prevent my own access to aXs GUARD?

No. The System Administrator's settings are configured when the product is first installed and are not accessible through the Administrator's tool.

Can I remotely manage my aXs GUARD without security fears?

Yes. aXs GUARD includes a 128-bit SSL for secure remote management through your Web browser.

Does the aXs GUARD administrator's tool have on-screen help?

Yes. aXs GUARD provides real-time context-sensitive help. When you move the mouse pointer over a context-sensitive area of the screen, a question mark pops up on which you can click to open an explanation of the item. A Help button is also permanently on screen, through which you can access the Help page relating to the current screen.

What languages does the aXs GUARD administrator tool support?

The Administrator's tool and documentation are currently provided in English and a French version is, as always, under development.

Can I delegate administration tasks to some of my users?

Yes. The Administrator can assign users ‘full', ‘basic' or ‘user' administration rights, affecting which features they may configure.

How can I back-up the aXs GUARD settings?

The aXs GUARD sends a backup of all parameters in an encrypted e-mail to the Able server and/or the System Administrator three hours after any modifications. A tape backup can be added to ensure a copy of the entire system, if important data is held on the aXs GUARD.

Hot swappable RAID 1 and redundant power supply options are also available in Enterprise models for high availability.

Monitoring features in aXs GUARD

What kind of monitoring is possible?

Each of the aXs GUARD modules has logging functionality, so that all network activities are recorded. Log viewers in the administrator's tool provide easy access for browsing and searching different types of events such as firewall activity, e-mail transfers and Web browsing, and all logs can be downloaded to external applications for analysis.

aXs GUARD offers preventive security defense and warns of potential problems through the log checker and intrusion detection system (IDS). The log checker automatically monitors activity as recorded in the logs and searches for irregularities. Patterns of activity or unusual behavior are detected, and warnings sent to the system administrator. This proactive defense allows for intelligent intervention against specifically identified attacks, if required.

The statistics module presents historical information (graphically) of all communications activity on the network, such as HTTP, FTP, e-mail, viruses caught, spams deflected etc. For each type of traffic, four charts present data from the previous day, week, month and year, together with a record of when the data were last updated.

Reporting is an auditing feature to provide clear and meaningful overviews of Internet and e-mail use in the organization. Data collected in the logs are summarized in reports to provide fast access to information, for example on the number of e-mails transmitted per user, the most active users surfing the Internet, or the frequency and size of e-mail transmissions.

Updates

How do I update the aXs GUARD software?

aXs GUARD does this for you.
To simplify administration, aXs GUARD checks for new versions on Able servers several times a day. If a new patch is available, the aXs GUARD automatically downloads and installs it. Similarly, new versions (included under the maintenance contracts) are automatically downloaded when they are available, and the Administrator is advised by e-mail. The Administrator can then test and accept the new version, when convenient.

More information about aXs GUARD

How do I know if something goes wrong?

aXs GUARD gathers "Status" information regularly from the main system components. The status screen is automatically presented on logon, and can also be accessed through the (permanently on screen) "Status' button, at any time.

Is there aXs GUARD warranty and support?

The aXs GUARD is covered by a one year guarantee on the hardware. Three maintenance options are available to extend this guarantee:

software only, which maintains your aXs GUARD state-of-the-art with regular version upgrading;
software and hardware maintenance, where hardware is repaired at the customer's site;
software and hardware maintenance, where hardware must be returned for repair.

Able employees provide dealers and end users with a personal service on our support help line, giving expert advice, rather than "call-centre" questionnaires.

For more information visit our Support page

My question isn't listed here. Help!

Please send an e-mail with your question to sales@axsGUARD.com.