by Jennifer Marsh | Mar 5, 2018 | Internet Security Updates, Spam News, SpamTitan News, TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News
A new version of TitanHQ’s cloud-based anti-spam service and anti-spam software was released on March 5, 2018. SpamTitan version 7.00 includes patches for recently identified vulnerabilities in the ClamAV antivirus engine and a change to the primary AV engine used by the solution.
The primary anti-virus engine of SpamTitan version 7.00 is provided by the Romanian firm Bitdefender. Bitdefender is an award-winning antivirus engine that provides exceptional email protection against malware, viruses, and ransomware. Combined with the secondary AV engine – ClamAV – users benefit from excellent protection against email-based malware and ransomware attacks. The dual AV engines ensure malicious software is not delivered to end users’ inboxes via email attachments.
The change to Bitdefender was a natural choice and TitanHQ is planning to further its strategic relationship with the Romanian cybersecurity firm over the coming weeks and months. The change to the primary AV engine will be unnoticeable to current users, who will continue to be protected from malicious threats.
The update to the latest version will not happen automatically. Customers who have ‘prefetch of system updates’ enabled on their SpamTitan installations will be able to see the latest version in their list of available updates and can manually trigger the update to the new version. Customers who do not have that option enabled need to “check for updates” via their user interface.
Customers have been advised to read the documentation accompanying the latest version prior to installation as it includes important information on how the update should be applied. TitanHQ explains that it is not possible to update from v4 or v5 of the platform to SpamTitan version 7.00 without first installing version 6 of the platform.
Customers should note that the update must be performed before May 1, 2018 to ensure continued protection, as support for the Kaspersky AV engine – used in all versions of SpamTitan prior to v7 – will cease on that date. TitanHQ has also informed customers that support for v4 and v5 of SpamTitan will also stop on May 1, 2018.
SpamTitan v7.00 includes patches for the following vulnerabilities: CVE-2017-12374, CVE-2017-12375, CVE-2017-12376, CVE-2017-12377, CVE-2017-12379, CVE-2017-12380. All of those vulnerabilities exist in ClamAV. The latest version also improves protection against DoS attacks and should be applied as soon as possible. The update will take approximately 10-20 minutes to complete.
by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 16, 2018 | ArcTitan News, MSP News, SpamTitan News, TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News
TitanHQ is pleased to announce that the team will be attending several Datto Roadshows this year, including the Datto Roadshow in Tampa on January 16, 2018.
The Datto roadshows are exciting events for managed service providers (MPS). Attendees get the opportunity to meet the Datto team and other managed service providers and gain valuable insights and useful advice to help turn 2018 into a highly profitable year.
The roadshows feature several deep dives, where the latest product releases and tech will be showcased to help MSPs get the most out of products and add new services to their stack.
The Deep Dives at the Tampa show will include Datto Networking, Datto SaaS Protection, and Ransomware Protection.
The Datto Networking Deep Dive gives MSPs the opportunity to learn how to boost MMR with the most MSP-centric networking product line in the world. Datto will be explaining its industry leading cloud backup and data recovery solutions in the Datto SaaS Protection Deep Dive.
The current ransomware epidemic has companies crying out for solutions that can help them to prevent attacks and recover quickly when disaster strikes. This creates an ideal opportunity for MSPs to improve their bottom lines by offering ransomware protection and recovery services. There will be a deep dive on ransomware where attendees will discover best practices to adopt to ensure clients are protected and data are secured.
The Tampa event will also see the Passportal team on hand to explain how clients can be protected from the full range of current cybersecurity threats and how MSPs can help their clients prevent data breaches, while lowering costs and increasing value.
TitanHQ will be on hand to explain the opportunities that exist in cloud-based spam filtering, web filtering and email archiving services, and how straightforward (and profitable) it is to provide these services to clients.
Additionally, the event is a great networking opportunity where MSPs can speak to other Datto partners and gain valuable tips to help them improve productivity, cut costs, and boost profits.
If you are unable to attend the Tampa event, don’t worry. There will be many other Datto Roadshows taking place over the coming weeks. The TitanHQ team will be attending several of these events.
The full schedule of Datto Roadshows in Q1, 2018 is listed below:
| Location |
Date |
| Orlando, FL |
February 6, 2018 |
| Albuquerque, NM |
February 8, 2018 |
| Houston, TX |
February 13, 2018 |
| Long Beach, CA |
February 13, 2018 |
| Dallas, TX |
February 15, 2018 |
| Baltimore, MD |
March 6, 2018 |
| San Francisco, CA |
March 6, 2018 |
| San Juan, Puerto Rico |
March 8, 2018 |
| Sacramento, CA |
March 8, 2018 |
| Phoenix, AZ |
March 13, 2018 |
| Norwalk, CT |
March 13, 2018 |
| Columbus, OH |
March 20, 2018 |
| Detroit, MI |
March 22 2018 |
| Rochester, NY |
March 27, 2018 |
| Toronto, Canada |
March 29, 2018 |
by Jennifer Marsh | Nov 29, 2017 | TitanHQ in the News, TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News, WebTitan News
The Etihad Stadium in Melbourne is one of the world’s most impressive sporting venues. Opened in 2000, the stadium can house 53,359 sports fans and in the 17 years since the turnstiles first opened, the venue has catered to more than 35 million fans.
The stadium hosts Big Bash League Twenty20 cricket matches, A-League soccer games, Australian Football League matches, International Rugby Union games, and recently, the Soccer World Cup qualifiers.
A requirement for modern sports stadia is WiFi access for guests, and the Etihad stadium is no exception. Guests are offered free Wi-Fi access via more than 700 access points around the stadium.
Providing access to Wi-Fi is one thing. Ensuring Wi-Fi can be accessed securely and patrons are protected from web-based threats is another. To ensure that all users of its Wi-Fi network are protected from online threats such as malware and phishing websites, and to make sure its network cannot be used to access illegal or inappropriate website content, the Etihad stadium turned to TitanHQ – The leading provider of DNS-based Wi-Fi filter security.
The technological achievements of the stadium – which includes a fully retractable roof – is now matched by advanced technology to protect its Wi-Fi network, making the stadium “one of the most technologically advanced, secure and connected stadiums in Australia,” according to TitanHQ CEO, Ronan Kavanagh.
The stadium is protected by WebTitan Cloud for WiFi – A 100% cloud-based Wi-Fi filtering solution. Being infinitely scalable, the solution can be used to protect any number of Wi-Fi access points, from a one-hotspot SMB to ISPs running thousands of access points. Since the solution requires no additional hardware, it is cost effective for large enterprises and sports venues to implement. No software is required, so users of the Wi-Fi hotspots do not need to install any apps and there is no latency, ensuring users benefits from fast Internet speeds.
Geoff Hall, I.T. Manager at Etihad Stadium, said “Our guests are the big winners from our partnership with TitanHQ. A total of 704 high-density Wi-Fi access points have also been installed to provide fast, free and secure internet connections to each and every fan. WebTitan Wi-Fi filtering delivers a transparent experience, with super-fast and secure Internet’’.
As Ronan Kavanagh explained, “WebTitan for Wi-Fi is designed to provide secure Wi-Fi throughout venues while simplifying its management. WebTitan for Wi-Fi prevents malware from compromising guests’ devices or stealing guests’ identities over any port, protocol, or app. For stadium management and owners, this brings considerable peace of mind.”
Benefits of WebTitan Cloud for WiFi for WiFi Hotspot Providers
WebTitan Cloud for WiFi is an award-winning WiFi filtering solution that allows WiFi hotspot providers to easily implement controls over the Internet content that WiFi users can access when connected to the WiFi network. The DNS-based filtering solution is easy to implement across multiple access points, and management of filtering controls is straightforward requiring little management overhead.
With WebTitan Cloud for WiFi you can:
- Filter the Internet across multiple WiFi hotspots
- Create a family-friendly, safe and secure web browsing environment
- Manage access points through a single web-based administration panel
- Delegate management of access points
- Filter by website, website category, keyword term, or keyword score
- Block material contained in the child abuse image content URL list (CAIC List)
- Upload blacklists and create whitelists
- Reduce the risk of phishing attacks
- Block malware and ransomware downloads
- Inspect encrypted websites with SSL certificates
- Schedule and run reports on demand
- Gain a real-time view of internet activity
- Gain insights into bandwidth use and restrict activities to conserve bandwidth
- Integrate the solution into existing systems through a suite of APIs
- Apply time-based filtering controls
WebTitan Cloud for WiFi is very competitively priced, with flexible payment terms, multiple hosting options, and industry leading customer support. If you want to carefully control the content that can be accessed on your WiFi network and protect your customers, give the TitanHQ team a call today.
by Jennifer Marsh | Nov 28, 2017 | TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News, WebTitan News
TitanHQ, the leading global provider of secure Wi-Fi solutions, has announced a new partnership with 4ipnet.
4ipnet is a global provider of affordable WLAN products and solutions to businesses, providing them with opportunities for value added services and the monetization of Wi-Fi networks. 4ipnet customer base includes businesses, educational institutions, healthcare organizations, and hotels around the world, with clients including Chunghwa Telecom, FLC group, Adrian Hoteles, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, Berjaya Hotels and Resorts, and the PPHE Hotel Group.
TitanHQ is an award-winning provider of email and web filtering solutions which make networks safer and block a wide range of cyberthreats. TitanHQ’s SpamTitan and WebTitan suite of products have been adopted by schools, universities, colleges, hotels, banks, governments, ISPs, and SMBs in more than 129 countries around the world.
The partnership between 4ipnet and TitanHQ has seen 4ipnet accredited as a provider of Friendly Wi-Fi. Friendly Wi-Fi is a certification program for public Wi-Fi hotspot providers that confirms the Internet is filtered to prevent obscene material such as pornography from being accessed, and that all webpages included on the Internet Watch Foundations blacklist – webpages known to contain images of child abuse and child pornography – are blocked.
The Friendly Wi-Fi program was created by the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) and is supported by the government and major Wi-Fi providers. The initiative was launched after concerns were raised of the risks to minors from accessing the Internet via public Wi-Fi networks that lacked the parental controls typically implemented at home. Any location that displays the Friendly Wi-Fi symbol has been confirmed as having appropriate controls in place to ensure the Wi-Fi network can be accessed safely and securely by minors.
4ipnet customers are now protected from a wide range of online threats, and can carefully control the Internet sites and web pages that can be accessed via their Wi-Fi networks. 4ipnet customers will also be able to market their Wi-Fi hotspots under the banner of Friendly Wi-Fi, ensuring customers are prevented from viewing inappropriate and illegal website content.
by TitanHQ News | Oct 27, 2017 | MSP News, TitanHQ in the News, TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News, WebTitan News
The 2017 Wi-Fi Now Expo and Conference, the world’s premier Wi-Fi event, will be taking place at The Hague, NL between October 31st and November 2nd, 2017.
The conference offers attendees the opportunity to meet leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, and experts from the full spectrum of the Wi-Fi industry, offering an unparalleled opportunity for learning, networking and knowledge sharing.
The W-Fi Now Expo and Conference is the only event in the world that is 100% devoted to the Wi-Fi industry and draws attendees from around the globe. The event consistently receives glowing 4/5-star reviews across the board for its speakers, panelists, exhibitors, topics, and venues.
This year’s Wi-Fi Now Expo and Conference promises to be bigger and better than ever before. Over the three-day event there will be 9 analysts and thought leaders delivering keynote speeches, 11 carriers and service providers and 29 technology leaders providing their valuable insights to attendees. More than 40 leading Wi-Fi companies will also be in attendance and will be demonstrating their products and services at the event.
TitanHQ is proud to announce that Sales Director, Conor Madden, is a headline speaker at the event. This is now the fourth time in two years that Conor has been selected as a speaker at Wi-Fi Now conferences.
Conor will be explaining how Wi-Fi filtering can vastly improve an organization’s security posture and will be providing key insights into how organizations can create customized Wi-Fi services in the Four Great Innovations in Enterprise Wi-Fi – Part One session on Day 1 of conference.
TitanHQ are the global leaders in Wi-Fi content filtering and Wi-Fi security, enhancing the security of more than 6,500 enterprises and businesses around the globe. The TitanHQ team is constantly enhancing and refining its web filtering technology and works closely with partners to ensure they get the maximum benefits from its products.
The TitanHQ team will be available at stand 23 on all three days of the conference. If you are interested in finding out more about WebTitan content filtering solutions and the benefits they can bring your business and your clients, be sure to stop by. The TitanHQ team will also be demonstrating the product and some of the big-ticket deployments from the past 18 months.
If you are unable to attend the Wi-Fi Now Expo and Conference, the TitanHQ team will also be attending the IT Nation, ConnectWise Conference in Orlando, Florida. The conference takes place on November 8th-10th at the Hyatt Regency.
by Jennifer Marsh | Sep 5, 2017 | MSP News, SpamTitan News, TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News, WebTitan News
It has been a busy summer for TitanHQ. The company has been working hard to improve its award-winning cybersecurity solutions to offer even greater protection from the ever-increasing range of email and web-based threats.
TitanHQ has also been expanding its customer base and now protects an increasingly diverse range of companies from email and web-based cyberattacks. The summer has seen a swathe of new enterprise clients sign up and start using TitanHQ’s suite of cybersecurity products.
Many new enterprise customers have joined the TitanHQ community over the past few months, from SMBs to large organizations with thousands of employees. While each company has a different infrastructure and requirements, all share a common goal: A need to protect their employees, networks and data from cyberattacks.
TitanHQ would like to take this opportunity to welcome its new customers from the healthcare, hospitality, education, financial services and information technology sectors, a selection of which are detailed below:
European Hospitals Group
Cyberattacks on the healthcare industry have increased considerably over the past two years, with many large healthcare organizations falling victim to malware and ransomware attacks. Many of those attacks occurred as a result of employees visiting or being redirected to websites where malware is silently downloaded. Preventing employees from accessing malicious websites is an essential, yet often overlooked, aspect of cybersecurity.
The European Hospitals Group recognized the risk of malware downloads and decided to take action. The hospital group employs 1,800 people across two locations in the city of Brussels in Belgium: St. Elisabeth in Uccle and St. Michel in Etterbeek/European Quarter. The multilingual hospital offers excellent care for patients and now has excellent protection against web-based threats with WebTitan. WebTitan is used to carefully control the websites that can be accessed by staff, blocking web-based threats and preventing inappropriate website content from being accessed via its network.
US Beef Corporation
The hospitality sector has been extensively targeted by cybercriminals over the past year. Those malicious actors have attempted to gain access to sensitive customer data, commonly doing so via malware infections on POS systems.
US Beef Corporation is best known for its highly popular chain of restaurants: Arby’s. The first Arby’s restaurant was opened by US Beef Corporation in 1969. By 1995, the popularity of the restaurant chain saw it ranked as the 20th largest franchise in the United States. New restaurants continue to be opened and now the company has broken into the top ten franchises in the United States with 350 establishments, employing 7,500 members of staff.
US Beef Corporation recognised the need to protect its network from email- based attacks and prevent staff from falling for phishing attacks. US Beef Corporation chose SpamTitan Cloud as its anti-spam solution.
TitanHQ is now protecting the inboxes of all those employees from phishing and social engineering attacks and helps to keep the company’s network free from malware and ransomware.
Burlington Edison School District
There is growing pressure on schools and higher education establishments to implement technological solutions to restrict the websites that can be accessed via their wired and wireless networks. Children need to be protected online and prevented from accessing potentially harmful website content such as pornography and images of child abuse. Web filtering is also an important element of CIPA compliance.
The Burlington-Edison School District recognises the important of technological controls over acceptable Internet usage policies, and has chosen TitanHQ’s WebTitan to prevent inappropriate content from being accessed by its 230 staff and 3,900 students across 6 schools in Skagit County, Washington.
Miway Insurance
The insurance industry stores vast quantities of sensitive data on customers – a treasure trove of information for cybercriminals. Keeping that data secure and networks protected requires a range of cybersecurity controls.
Johannesburg, South Africa based Miway Insurance is a direct short-term insurance and financial services company offering a wide range of home and business insurance products. The company employs 3,000 staff members, the majority of whom require access to the Internet at work.
To protect against web-based attacks and prevent malware and ransomware downloads, Miway insurance chose WebTitan. WebTitan is used to block access to malicious websites where drive-by malware downloads occur and to restrict access to unacceptable website content.
TNS Group
Stamford, CT-based TNS Group is a leading provider of managed IT support services in the Tri-State area and has clients throughout the United States and beyond. The firm was looking for a solution provider that could provide a spam filtering solution that could be easily offered to its customers to protect them from email-based threats.
Through SpamTitan Cloud, TNS Group can offer its clients an advanced spam filtering service to protect against phishing and social engineering attacks, malware and ransomware and keep inboxes spam free.
All the above companies have now had their TitanHQ products deployed and are protected from email and web-based attacks. If you are looking to improve your organization’s security posture and want to ensure your networks are kept malware free, contact the TitanHQ team today to find out more about the WebTitan web filtering and SpamTitan anti-spam solutions.
by Jennifer Marsh | Jul 25, 2017 | MSP News, SpamTitan News, TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News, WebTitan News
The second annual Kaseya Connect Europe User Conference will be taking place in Amsterdam, Netherlands on October 3, 2017.
Kaseya is the leading provider of complete IT management solutions for managed service providers (MSPs). Its user conferences are hugely popular and provide more than just an opportunity to learn how to get more out of the company’s products. They offer an unrivaled learning opportunity that helps MSPs get the most out of their business, fuel growth and make significant improvements to their bottom lines.
Kaseya has now finalized its line-up of keynote speakers, sponsors and exhibiting partners for the event, which include industry and thought leaders and the top providers of solutions for MSPs to improve the services they provide clients and increase revenue.
Speakers for the event include Kaseya Chief Product Officer Mike Puglia, SVP – Managed Service Providers, Miguel Lopez, Chief Customer Officer, Alex Cuevas, EVP Global Product Services, Alan Davies, and Marwin Marcussen, Kaseya Sales Engineering Manager, EMEA.
Sue Gilkes, Faculty Member of CompTIA and Founder & Managing Director of Your Impact Ltd will be giving a keynote speech providing insights that will help MSPs boost revenue and grow their businesses. ‘Check-In Strategy Journal’ author, Adam Harris, will also be giving a keynote speech and will be offering important sales strategies for MSPs to help secure more contracts.
One of the main goals of the conference is to help MSPs monetize and develop their businesses, with the Amsterdam conference including a business track to help attendees do just that. A technical track includes deep product dives to help MSPs get the most out of their Kaseya investments, with a host of instructional sessions that provide strategic insight along with practical knowledge to boost business growth.
Two hot topics that will also be covered at the Amsterdam Kaseya Connect Europe User Conference are the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and cybersecurity. GDPR has major implications for MSPs in Europe and the compliance deadline is fast approaching. A session will take place at the conference to guide attendees through the steps they will need to take to ensure compliance.
Major global cyberattacks, malware and ransomware infections have dominated the headlines in recent weeks and help will be on hand to ensure MSPs can take advantage of the opportunities that exist while ensuring their clients are well protected.
TitanHQ is proud to be an Emerald sponsor for the event and will be showcasing its cybersecurity solutions for MSPs, giving product demonstrations and explaining the benefits of adding the solutions to MSP’s service stacks.
Attendees will have the opportunity of speaking to the TitanHQ team about WebTitan for Managed Service Providers – a powerful web filtering solution that allows users to carefully control the websites that can be accessed via wired and WIFI networks. WebTitan prevents inappropriate content from being accessed by employees and clients and provides essential protection from web-based threats such as exploit kits, phishing websites, and malware and ransomware downloads.
Protecting clients from email-based threats can save technical support teams countless hours. Attendees will be able to learn about the benefits of SpamTitan and how the solution can block email-based threats and keep MSP’s clients well protected from phishing attacks, malware and ransomware infections.
Kaseya’s conferences are hugely popular, offering an excellent learning opportunity to allow MSPs to make a significant improvement to their revenues. The Kaseya Connect Europe User Conference in Amsterdam is free of charge to Kaseya and non-Kaseya users, although registration for the event is required in advance.
by TitanHQ News | Oct 1, 2013 | TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News
Tampa FL and Galway, Ireland – Oct 1st 2013. SpamTitan Technologies today announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with ADMTOOLS in Spain. ADM Tools is a leader in technology distribution and channel services delivering business security solutions across through their reseller network in Spain. The agreement is the first direct distribution agreement for SpamTitan Technologies in Spain and forms part of the company’s strategy to focus on growing and investing in its partner network.
This new partnership will greatly benefit SpamTitan’s Spanish resellers and customers and enable greater access to SpamTitan’s leading security solutions with the support of ADMTOOLS local channel services. According to Marcial Gonzalez, Channel Manager Iberia of SpamTitan, ‘The company has partnered with ADMTOOLS because of its experience as a security distributor, its detailed knowledge of the local security market, as well as its success and recent major growth”.
ADM Tools will distribute the complete range of SpamTitan Technologies solutions including SpamTitan spam filter and the WebTitan content filtering solution. All solutions are available in various deployment options including on premises, virtual and cloud. Víctor Orive, Global Sales & Marketing Manager at ADMTOOLS said “We are very excited about this new agreement with SpamTitan Technologies. We firmly believe that our partners will benefit from this refreshing new opportunity to offer superior solutions like SpamTitan anti-spam and WebTitan for web security to their customers at a very competitive price.
About ADMTools
VAD ADMTOOLS is a leader in solutions for IT management, servers and networks, in various areas such as content security, systems management and messaging solutions. ADMTOOLS is a company focused entirely to the distribution channel, offering the most advanced technological solutions of the global market for information technology.
ADMTOOLS markets its products exclusively through a network of distributors. ADMTOOLS is based in Burgos, Spain. For further information email: comercial@admtools.com
by TitanHQ News | Apr 8, 2013 | TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News
SpamTitan Technologies are delighted to announce they have entered into a distribution agreement with Habeas Data Mexico who will distribute the SpamTitan Technologies suite of email and web security solutions in Mexico . Habeas Data Mexico began operations in 2005 and have headquarters in San Pedro de los Pinos where they provide business security solutions to organisations across Mexico.
This new agreement forms part of SpamTitan Technologies ongoing strategy to focus on innovation and investment in its extensive partner network. This new partnership follows SpamTitans recent recognition as No 1 anti spam solution as voted by Computer Security Magazine and builds on SpamTitan’s global growth strategy.
‘Today, Habeas Data Mexico is positioned among the most important consolidated security companies in information technology and consulting services in Mexico. We are delighted to be able to offer the SpamTitan suite of security solutions across Mexico. We are sure both SpamTitan anti spam and the WebTitan web filtering solution will add value and allow us to ensure total quality and confidence to trading partners and also the end users’ says Fausto Escobar, CEO Habeas Data Mexico.
‘In Habeas Data Mexico we are confident we have found a distributor that is dedicated to developing distribution channels in Mexico allowing us to continue growing our customer base in this area. Partnering with Habeas Data Mexico will allow us to reach out further to this market so that more organizations can deploy our powerful and afforable email and web security solutions in the knowledge that they will be supported by a local trusted partner’ said Macrial Gonzalez, Channel Account Manager at SpamTitan Technologies for South and Central America.
About Habeas Data Mexico
Habeas Data Mexico (HD México) is a distributor offering security and information technologies solutions for the Mexican market through the commercialization of advanced security products. From the vision of a group of enthusiasts concerned about the growing threat environment , a team was built focused on eradicating the the risks these security threats represent. Habeas Data Mexico, SA de C.V started operations in 2005. For more information info@spamtitan.com
by TitanHQ News | Mar 11, 2013 | TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News
SpamTitan Technologies are delighted to announce they have entered into a distribution agreement with Aufiero Informática SRL who will distribute the SpamTitan Technologies suite of email and web security solutions across Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Perú, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia.
Aufiero Informática SRL have headquarters in Buenos Aires where they provide business security solutions to organisations across South America. This new agreement forms part of SpamTitan Technologies ongoing strategy to focus on innovation and investment in its extensive partner network. This new partnership follows SpamTitans recent recognition as No 1 anti spam solution as voted by Virus Bulletin and builds on SpamTitans global growth strategy.
‘We offer many programs in the area of detection and removal of viruses and other threats including policies and backup solutions. We are delighted to be able to offer the SpamTitan suite of security solutions across our geography. We are sure both SpamTitan anti spam and the WebTitan web filtering solution will add value and allow us to ensure total quality and confidence to trading partners and also the end users’ says Osvaldo Aufiero, CEO Aufiero Informática SRL.
SpamTitan is very excited to be working with Aufiero Informática SRL as the company has a strong track record and specific, in-depth knowledge of the security environment in South America. Partnering with Aufiero Informática SRL will allow us to reach out further to this market so that more organizations can deploy our comprehensive and flexible email security solution in the knowledge that they will be supported by a local trusted partner’ said Ronan Kavanagh, CEO of SpamTitan Technologies.
About Aufiero SRL
Aufiero Informática, founded in 2005, is a Wholesale Regional Software Distributor who specializes in representing software manufacturers and offering their products for individuals and companies, through their reseller network in Latin America. With a strong focus on channel business, it pride itself on exceptional customer service, technical and commercial knowledge and a strong marketing strategy on the web. Aufiero Informatica has a presence in all Spanish-speaking countries in South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú, Venezuela and Uruguay).
by TitanHQ News | Feb 4, 2013 | TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News
SpamTitan Technologies today announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with SecureSoft Distribution a leader in technology distribution of security solutions across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. “We look forward to distributing SpamTitan Technologies products into the Australian and Pacific islands marketplace through our highly skilled reseller base” said Bastian Schattner, Distribution Manager at Securesoft Distribution. ‘We are seeing a lot of growth and opportunity in the Australia and Pacific islands for innovative business security solution that offer good value to our resellers – SpamTitan which was voted anti spam solution of the year in 2012 offers our channel partners both aggressive pricing and excellent margins’.
According to Eddie Monaghan, Channel Manager of SpamTitan Technologies the company has partnered with SecureSoft Distribution because of its experience as a security distributor with in-depth knowledge of the security market, as well as its success and major growth in the last five years.
‘We are delighted to announce the appointment of SecureSoft Distribution as our new distribution partner in Australia. By partnering with SecureSoft Distribution we can reach out further to the Australian market so that more organizations can deploy our comprehensive and flexible email security solution in the knowledge that they will be supported by a local trusted partner’ said Eddie Monaghan, Channel Manager at SpamTitan Technologies. “SpamTitan has seen demand steadily growing for its products, in particular the SpamTitan Virtual Appliance designed to run on the VMware suite of products has seen excellent growth over the past 2 years.”
About Securesoft SecureSoft Distribution offers state of the art security software solutions across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands. The companys’ goal is to distribute competitively-priced, simple, efficient and affordable anti-virus, anti spam and web filtering solutions to businesses across the region.
by TitanHQ News | Jan 31, 2011 | MSP News, TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News
Galway, Ireland, Jan 31st 2011 – SpamTitan Technologies are delighted to announce they have entered into a distribution agreement with WickHill Germany who will distribute the SpamTitan Technologies suite of email and web security solutions in the German market.
WickHill have headquarters in Hamburg where they provide enterprise security solutions to businesses. The company’s portfolio covers security, performance, access, networking, unified communications and hosted solutions ‘We are constantly updating our product portfolio and are always looking for new and innovative solutions that will add value and allow us to ensure total quality and confidence to trading partners and also the end user’ says Helge Scherff, Sales Director at WickHill.
Wick Hill’s channel-only approach is based on solutions which offer real business benefits. The company selects only secure, best-of-breed products which are robust, reliable, easy to use and easy to install. A very strong level of commitment to customer service and technical support has been a fundamental part of WickHills policy for over 30 years.
‘By partnering with WickHill we can reach out further to the German market where already we have a sizeable customer base so that more organizations can deploy our comprehensive and flexible email security solution in the knowledge that they will be supported by a local trusted partner’ said Ronan Kavanagh, CEO of SpamTitan Technologies. “SpamTitan, has seen demand steadily growing for its products, in particular the SpamTitan Virtual Appliance designed to run on the VMware suite of products has seen excellent growth over the past 2 years.”
About WickHill
Established in 1976, Wick Hill is a market-making, value added distributor specialising in secure infrastructure solutions. The company’s portfolio covers security, performance, access, networking, unified communications and hosted solutions. Through associations with a number of international partners, Wick Hill sources and delivers best-of-breed, easy-to-use solutions backed up by customer support, implementation, training and technical services.
The company has a strong focus on gateway and remote access protection, as well as the security issues around the growing use of mobile and wireless devices. The portfolio encompasses a wide range of solutions for both fixed and wireless systems, and also includes converged voice/data solutions.
About SpamTitan Technologies
SpamTitan Technologies, a global provider of sophisticated enterprise-level email security solutions, markets SpamTitan, offering small and medium size businesses the most comprehensive protection from email threats, including SPAM, viruses, Trojans, phishing, malware and other unwanted content. It also markets WebTitan, an easy-to-install, easy-to-manage and highly secure web filtering solution. SpamTitan Technologies’ unique approach in utilising next-generation virtualisation software eliminates the need for unwieldy hardware, giving customers unparalleled flexibility, versatility and capability but at an affordable price. A division of CopperFasten Technologies, SpamTitan Technologies is a global company with headquarters in Galway, Ireland. For further information email info@spamtitan.com
by TitanHQ News | Oct 28, 2010 | TitanHQ Partner News
VMware today announced an expansion of its VMware Ready™ Program to include mail security solutions for Zimbra, furthering the company’s commitment to offer customers secure email solutions. Customers using VMware Ready products can now easily extend the Zimbra solution with a virtual appliance mail security solution from SpamTitan Technologies.
The VMware Ready Mail Security Program helps customers identify complementary email security solutions for the Zimbra platform to provide better functionality, more choice and reduced integration costs for partner mail security products. By pre-qualifying products that meet VMware criteria for compatibility, robustness and interoperability with the Zimbra platform, the VMware Ready Mail Security Program, enables customers to take advantage of a diverse ecosystem of pre-validated security solutions. This reduces both the risk and the complexity of implementing sophisticated mail and security systems, ultimately empowering the cloud-capable enterprise with a faster, easier and less disruptive solution.
According to Ronan Kavanagh, SpamTitan Technologies CEO, “As an email security vendor we are seeing a lot of interest in the Zimbra platform from VMware. We are delighted to be able to offer Zimbra customers all the benefits that SpamTitan has to offer including our unique approach in utilising next-generation virtualisation software which eliminates the need for unwieldy hardware, giving customers unparalleled flexibility, versatility and capability but at an affordable price.
VMware Ready Mail Security provides:
· Simplified Security – Provides simplified delivery of a secure email and collaboration solution with mail security products that have been validated with Zimbra.
· Integrated Solutions – Drives consistency in deployment and performance, eases support and accelerates delivery of a secure and private email and collaboration cloud.
· Leading-edge Products – Enables partners in the VMware Ready Mail Security Program early access to future requirements and upcoming Zimbra products. Partners also receive the latest technical information and learn about product enhancements as a means to develop the best solutions for customers.
About Zimbra
Zimbra, as part of VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), is the leader in open source, next-generation email and collaboration software. Zimbra is simplifying IT and setting the standard for web and cloud based collaboration with innovative user experiences, such as a rich AJAX web interface. Streamlined administration, advanced mobility and both on-premises and hosted cloud deployment options have quickly made Zimbra a preferred collaboration platform for businesses, service providers, government and educational institutions. With more than 60 million paid mailboxes worldwide, Zimbra is one of the largest and fastest growing email providers. Learn more at www.zimbra.com.
About VMware
VMware delivers virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable IT organizations to energize businesses of all sizes. With the industry leading virtualization platform — VMware vSphere™ — customers rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, improve agility, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2009 revenues of $2 billion, more than 190,000 customers and 25,000 partners, VMware is the leader in virtualization which consistently ranks as a top priority among CIOs. VMware is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.
About SpamTitan Technologies
SpamTitan Technologies, a global provider of sophisticated enterprise-level email security solutions, markets SpamTitan, offering small and medium size businesses the most comprehensive protection from email threats, including Spam, viruses, Trojans, phishing, malware and other unwanted content.
It also markets WebTitan, an easy-to-install, easy-to-manage and highly secure web filtering solution. SpamTitan Technologies’ unique approach in utilising next-generation virtualisation software eliminates the need for unwieldy hardware, giving customers unparalleled flexibility, versatility and capability but at an affordable price. A division of CopperFasten Technologies, SpamTitan Technologies is a global company with headquarters in Galway, Ireland. For further information visit www.spamtitan.com.
by TitanHQ News | Oct 21, 2010 | SpamTitan News, TitanHQ Partner News
SpamTitan Technologies, the makers of powerful yet easy-to-manage spam and web filtering software, today announced that SpamTitan has achieved VMware Ready™ status as a Mail Security product. This designation indicates that SpamTitan has passed a detailed evaluation and testing process on the Zimbra Collaboration Suite Appliance managed by VMware and is now listed in the VMware Ready Mail Security category.
Passing the extensive VMware-specified testing helps ensure that SpamTitan makes best use of VMware technology and is ready for deployment in customer environments.“We are pleased that SpamTitan qualifies for the VMware Ready™ logo, signifying to customers that it has passed specific VMware testing and interoperability criteria and is ready to run their mission-critical business applications and operations,” said Bernie Mills, senior director, alliance programs, VMware.
Ronan Kavanagh, SpamTitan Technologies CEO commented: “By using SpamTitan with the Zimbra platform from VMware enterprises can benefit from our unique approach in utilising next-generation virtualisation software which eliminates the need for unwieldy hardware, giving customers unparalleled flexibility, versatility and capability but at an affordable price.”
The VMware Ready™ program is a VMware co-branding program for qualified partner products and is a benefit of the VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) program. With more than 1200 members worldwide, the VMware TAP program works with best-of-breed technology partners to provide them a comprehensive set of VMware technical and marketing services, support, tools and expertise to deliver enhanced value to joint customers.
SpamTitan from SpamTitan Technologies can be found within the online VMware partner product catalog at
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/cat/521?k=spamtitan.
About SpamTitan Technologies
SpamTitan Technologies, a global provider of sophisticated enterprise-level email security solutions, markets SpamTitan, offering small and medium size businesses the most comprehensive protection from email threats, including Spam, viruses, Trojans, phishing, malware and other unwanted content.
It also markets WebTitan, an easy-to-install, easy-to-manage and highly secure web filtering solution. SpamTitan Technologies’ unique approach in utilising next-generation virtualisation software eliminates the need for unwieldy hardware, giving customers unparalleled flexibility, versatility and capability but at an affordable price. A division of CopperFasten Technologies, SpamTitan Technologies is a global company with headquarters in Galway, Ireland. For further information visit www.spamtitan.com.
by TitanHQ News | Aug 24, 2010 | MSP News, TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News
Galway , August 24th – SpamTitan are delighted to announce that due to enormous demand for our award winning virtual email gateway appliances we have recruited the leading Singapore company Han Technology to distribute our product in Signapore and Malaysia.
Kok-Hong, Operations Director of Han Technology commented “We have used SpamTitan in-house with great success for some years now and have also seen the progress of SpamTitan internationally and are delighted to be in a position to drive sales through our reseller base in Singapore and Malaysia.
‘By partnering with Han Technology we can reach out further to the Singapore & Malaysian markets so that more organizations can deploy our comprehensive and flexible email security solution in the knowledge that they will be supported by a local trusted partner’ said Ronan Kavanagh, CEO of SpamTitan Technologies.
About Han Technology
Since 1995, Han Technology has been the watchword for security and data loss, systen threats and Internet abuse. Our secure file transfer is a middleware solution used by many banks and government offices. Our solutions protect local networks and personal computers from Internet threats and offer a secure environment for corporate messaging and communication needs.
Throughout the years, the company has gained presence within the highly competitive networking workplace, evolving from merely providing anti-virus solutions into a comprehensive solutions distributor with extraordinary technical support. By maintaining its unwavering focus on customer satisfaction, the company is able to grow despite wars, financial crisis and the collapse of the Internet boom. http://www.hantechnology.com.sg/
About SpamTitan Technologies
SpamTitan Technologies, a global provider of sophisticated enterprise-level email security solutions, markets SpamTitan, offering small and medium size businesses the most comprehensive protection from email threats, including SPAM, viruses, Trojans, phishing, malware and other unwanted content. It also markets WebTitan, an easy-to-install, easy-to-manage and highly secure web filtering solution. SpamTitan Technologies’ unique approach in utilising next-generation virtualisation software eliminates the need for unwieldy hardware, giving customers unparalleled flexibility, versatility and capability but at an affordable price. A division of CopperFasten Technologies, SpamTitan Technologies is a global company with headquarters in Galway, Ireland. For further information email info@spamtitan.com
by TitanHQ News | Aug 23, 2010 | MSP News, TitanHQ Partner News, WebTitan News
Boston, Galway– WebTitan are delighted to announce that due to increased demand for our award winning solutions we have recruited the leading Singapore company Han Technology to distribute our product in Signapore and Malaysia.
Kok-Hong, Operations Director of Han Technology commented “We have used SpamTitan in-house with great success for some years now and have also seen the progress of SpamTitan and WebTitan internationally and are delighted to be in a position to drive sales through our reseller base in Singapore and Malaysia.
‘By partnering with Han Technology we can reach out further to the Singapore & Malaysian markets so that more organizations can deploy our comprehensive and flexible email security solution in the knowledge that they will be supported by a local trusted partner’ said Ronan Kavanagh, CEO of SpamTitan Technologies.
About Han Technology
Since 1995, Han Technology has been the watchword for security and data loss, systen threats and Internet abuse. Our secure file transfer is a middleware solution used by many banks and government offices. Our solutions protect local networks and personal computers from Internet threats and offer a secure environment for corporate messaging and communication needs.
Throughout the years, the company has gained presence within the highly competitive networking workplace, evolving from merely providing anti-virus solutions into a comprehensive solutions distributor with extraordinary technical support. By maintaining its unwavering focus on customer satisfaction, the company is able to grow despite wars, financial crisis and the collapse of the Internet boom. http://www.hantechnology.com.sg/
About SpamTitan Technologies
SpamTitan Technologies, a global provider of sophisticated enterprise-level email security solutions, markets SpamTitan, offering small and medium size businesses the most comprehensive protection from email threats, including SPAM, viruses, Trojans, phishing, malware and other unwanted content. It also markets WebTitan, an easy-to-install, easy-to-manage and highly secure web filtering solution. SpamTitan Technologies’ unique approach in utilising next-generation virtualisation software eliminates the need for unwieldy hardware, giving customers unparalleled flexibility, versatility and capability but at an affordable price. A division of CopperFasten Technologies, SpamTitan Technologies is a global company with headquarters in Galway, Ireland. For further information email info@spamtitan.com
by TitanHQ News | Jul 27, 2010 | TitanHQ News, TitanHQ Partner News
Boston, Galway , July 27th –SpamTitan are delighted to announce the appointment of İrene Bilgi Sistemleri Ltd. Şti as their new distribution partner in Turkey. “We look forward to distributing SpamTitan Technologies products into the Turkish Business marketplace,” saidSelçuk Irmak, Key Account Manager at Irene. “We are seeing a lot of growth and opportunity in the Turkish market for innovative products that offer good value to customers. ‘
‘By partnering with İrene Bilgi Sistemleri Ltd. Şti we can reach out further to the Turkish market so that more organizations can deploy our comprehensive and flexible email security solution in the knowledge that they will be supported by a local trusted partner’ said Ronan Kavanagh, CEO of SpamTitan Technologies. “SpamTitan, has seen demand steadily growing for its products, in particular the SpamTitan Virtual Appliance designed to run on the VMware suite of products has seen excellent growth over the past 2 years.”
About İrene Bilgi Sistemleri Ltd. Şti
Irene Bilgi Sistemleri provides IT security solutions and services to its customers with very experienced sales and professional engineering team in the security market. The purpose of Irene is to increase the productivity of customers by protecting their IT systems with optimum pricing and solutions performance.
Irene is an established security software solutions distributor and works very closely with its partners as a security expert. It has a very good position in the security market in Turkey, because it uses high capacity technologies backed by an experienced team in order to achieve maximum customer satisfaction. Irene has many references from universities, public institutions and private companies from different sectors in Turkey. For more information: www.irene.com.tr
About SpamTitan Technologies
SpamTitan Technologies, a global provider of sophisticated enterprise-level email security solutions, markets SpamTitan, offering small and medium size businesses the most comprehensive protection from email threats, including SPAM, viruses, Trojans, phishing, malware and other unwanted content. It also markets WebTitan, an easy-to-install, easy-to-manage and highly secure web filtering solution. SpamTitan Technologies’ unique approach in utilising next-generation virtualisation software eliminates the need for unwieldy hardware, giving customers unparalleled flexibility, versatility and capability but at an affordable price. A division of CopperFasten Technologies, SpamTitan Technologies is a global company with headquarters in Galway, Ireland. For further information email info@spamtitan.com
by TitanHQ News | Jun 16, 2009 | TitanHQ Partner News
Boston, MA and Galway, Ireland, June 8, 2009– SpamTitan are delighted to announce they will once again be partnering with VMWare in an exciting new initiative offering on demand applications in the cloud.
“App on Demand” will allow customers to create, on demand, a SpamTitan virtual appliance in the cloud. By simply clicking a link, a SpamTitan virtual appliance will be generated for them in the cloud whereby they will be able to log on and explore their own SpamTitan application. Marrying virtual appliances with advanced cloud computing technology brings to the market a new product delivery method. Available through VMware’s Virtual Appliance Marketplace, the App on Demand offers customers the ideal method to look at a potential solution and also experience the power of virtual cloud computing in action.
‘The SpamTitan VMware relationship continues to allow us to bring original and innovative solutions to our customers’ says Ronan Kavanagh CEO of SpamTitan. “This latest initiative is truly leading edge and will culminate in SpamTitan offering customers the opportunity to use the product in the cloud, not in the SAAS model but as their own dedicated on demand application benefiting from the redundancy, scalability and failover associated with virtualization and cloud computing.”
SpamTitan for Vmware was launched in 2006, it is a complete operating system and software suite designed to run on VMware. Using VMware®, this enables businesses to run SpamTitan on any server irrespective of the operating system. When companies deploy SpamTitan using Vmware they enjoy all the benefits of virtualization. For small businesses this gives high availability, performance and the reliability of VMware with cost-effective packages designed for small IT environments. For Medium and Enterprise Businesses the solution allows for increased IT control through service level automation, dramatically reducing capital and operating costs and maximizing IT efficiency.
According to Kavanagh the drivers behind the uptake of cloud computing won’t change in 2009, with cost and environmental savings being the key motivators. ‘This is a very exciting time for SpamTitan’ explains Kavanagh, “we see this as the next generation deployment phase for SpamTitan. This initiative will allow us to offer even more flexibility to our customers as well as the increased efficiency and low cost that cloud computing will bring. We have always been innovative in our offerings this is bringing innovation to a next level. “
For further information on the App on Demand initiative please visit VMware’s Virtual Appliance Marketplace at
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/156223
About SpamTitan
SpamTitan, the global provider of sophisticated enterprise-level email security solutions, offers small and medium size businesses the most comprehensive protection from email threats, including SPAM, viruses, Trojans, Phishing, Malware and other unwanted content. SpamTitan’s unique approach in utilizing next-generation virtualization software, eliminates the need for unwieldy hardware, giving customers unparalleled flexibility, versatility and capability but at an affordable price. Integrating best of breed technologies, SpamTitan provides an easy to install, easy to manage and highly secure email gateway. SpamTitan, a division of CopperFasten, is a global company with headquarters in Galway, Ireland. For further information visit, www.spamtitan.com.
by TitanHQ News | Mar 2, 2009 | TitanHQ Partner News
Boston, MA, Mar 02, 2009– SpamTitan, a leading producer of email security solutions, today announced it has been awarded “VMware Ready” certification—indicating that its software is safe, supported, enterprise-ready and fully VMware compatible. The SpamTitan enterprise-level email security solution is well known for its zero-overhead administration, ease-of-management, high performance and extensive security features.
SpamTitan customers report several benefit from using virtualization which include an immense cost savings, rapid deployment and provisioning, simplified change management, easy backup and disaster recovery. VMWare’s Virtual Appliance Program is designed to ensure that products like that from SpamTitan are reliable, supported, enterprise-ready, and fully compatible with VMware’s industry-leading virtualization platform. VMware validated SpamTitan by doing the required testing to verify the SpamTitan email security solution works with the VMware Infrastructure and has all of the necessary documentation to assist new users in either evaluating the virtual appliance or setting it up for production use.
About SpamTitan
SpamTitan, the global provider of sophisticated enterprise-level email security solutions, offers small and medium size businesses the most comprehensive protection from email threats, including SPAM, viruses, Trojans, Phishing, Malware and other unwanted content. SpamTitans unique approach in utilizing next-generation virtualization software, eliminates the need for unwieldy hardware, giving customers unparalleled flexibility, versatility and capability but at an affordable price. Integrating best of breed technologies, SpamTitan provides an easy to install, easy to manage and highly secure email gateway. SpamTitan, a division of CopperFasten, is a global company with headquarters in Galway, Ireland. For further information visit, www.spamtitan.com.
About VMware
VMware (NYSE: VMW) is the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter. Customers of all sizes rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2007 revenues of $1.3 billion, more than 120,000 customers and nearly 18,000 partners, VMware is one of the fastest growing public software companies. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is majority-owned by EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) and on the web at www.vmware.com.
by TitanHQ News | Feb 13, 2009 | TitanHQ Partner News
Boston, MA, February 13, 2009– SpamTitan are delighted to announce that due to enormous demand for our award winning virtual email gateway appliances we have recruited the leading South African company Robinson Distribution to distribute our product in South Africa and Africa.
Dirk Robinson, CEO of Robinson Distribution commented “We have seen the progress of SpamTitan internationally for some time now and are delighted to be in a position to drive sales through our reseller base in South Africa and Africa "
“We are delighted to announce our new distribution partner Robinson Distribution ” said Ronan Kavanagh, CEO of SpamTitan Technologies. “SpamTitan, has seen demand steadily growing for its products, in particular the SpamTitan Virtual Appliance designed to run on the VMware suite of products. Although we already have customers in South Africa and Africa, by partnering with Robinson Distribution we can reach out even further to the market so that more organisations can deploy our comprehensive and flexible email security solution in the knowledge that they will be supported by a local trusted partner ” .
About Robinson Distribution
Robinson Distribution was founded in 1999, specialising in business Critical solutions for South Africa and Africa. They offer a selection of only the best solutions from reputable suppliers with the ability to provide excellent service and support to South Africa and Africa. Robinson Distribution have established themselves as one of the top distribution companies in South Africa.
About SpamTitan
SpamTitan is one of the first companies on the market to offer a virtual email appliance. Our solutions offer best-of-breed technologies to provide the highest levels of security for email. Our products are available globally and free to download from the SpamTitan website. For further information please see www.spamtitan.com
by TitanHQ News | May 16, 2008 | TitanHQ Partner News
SpamTitan, società irlandese che sviluppa l’omonimo software antispam ha aperto una sede in Italia, a Milano, da cui offrirà un servizio di supporto locale via telefono ed e-mail e un servizio di di vendita online dei suoi prodotti. La filiale nasce dalla collaborazione con il distributore DotForce – un progetto pilota che sarà seguito per aprire sedi in altri Paesi europei nei prossimi mesi – e sarà guidata da Fabrizio Bressani.
SpamTitan mette a disposizione un motore antispam e antivirus adatto a scalare da poche decine a migliaia di utenti di grandi aziende e Internet Service Provider, permettendo di gestire un numero di domini illimitato e di offrire un servizio di qualità a ridotti costi di gestione. E’ disponibile in due versioni, una ISO e l’altra dedicata alle macchine virtuali VMWare, entrambe dotate di un doppio motore antivirus (ClamAV e Kaspersky Labs ) e capaci di identificare fino al 98% dello spam grazie a un’analisi multilivello.
“SpamTitan è un prodotto unico per rapporto qualità/prezzo e per questo adatto a tutte le aziende, indipendentemente dalle loro dimensioni, che vogliono liberarsi una volta per tutte dello spam – dichiara in una nota Bressani -. Le alternative attuali sono appliance estremamente costose e non adatte per questo motivo alle PMI, così diffuse e numerose in Italia”.
by TitanHQ News | Nov 15, 2007 | TitanHQ Partner News
When we spoke with Ronan Kavanagh, sales director of Galway, Ireland-based SpamTitan, he described SpamTitan’s membership in the Virtual Appliance Marketplace of the titan of virtualization, VMware.
A major benefit of its partnership with VMware is that it’s “letting a lot of people know we’re out there,” which Kavanagh explained is helpful since the “decision-making process” for “the larger organizations can be a little bit longer than the smaller ones.” And, SpamTitan’s “solution works fantastically for those environments, with 10,000 to 20,000 users. SpamTitan has been delivering at the highest level for quite a while, either as a hardware solution or a software solution,” so “we have some good people using it.” By being part of VMware’s Virtual Appliance Marketplace, Kavanagh has found SpamTitan’s able to reach out further, so that even more good people can end up using its solution.
From Hardware to Software Appliance
Kavanagh recalled how “we looked at launching a software version of our physical appliance about 18 months ago, and while investigating the way we were going to do this, we became aware that VMware themselves were investing considerable resources into virtual appliances as a key strategy for themselves. The timing was coincidentally very, very good. We contacted VMware, and got introduced to the people running their virtual appliance program – they have their processes and partnership programs, and we went through that. We were an early adapter from their point of view – one of the first ten companies to get certified under their Virtual Appliance Marketplace certification program. They were happy as much as we were delighted to be involved in their certification program, to ensure our virtual appliance meets their product suites, and works seamlessly with their product suites.” Kavanagh noted, “We’ve attained that certification,” and this “adds weight to the product, certainly in the marketplace, from a customer point of view if they’ve deployed VMware products. And if they are looking to add products, they’re going to add certified products because they know it’s going to work.”
So far, from a study of its data from its VMware partnership, “60 to 70 percent of their customers running SpamTitan are on free versions of VMware” — suggesting use by smaller organizations. “There may be notions out there that VMware is an enterprise product,” and “if on the SME level” users may thus “bypass that product,” but the evidence suggests that this is “absolutely not the case,” as “most people are using free versions of the VMware product, and getting tremendous value of out it.” Being certified by, and partners with, VMware “are pretty key” to SpamTitan’s success, since “of the virtualization products out there” — of which there are “three or four mainstays out there” — Kavanagh has found that “VMware is about the only company pushing virtual appliances to the extent that they are.”
VMware’s Virtual Revolution
We spoke with Srinivas Krishnamurti, Director of Product Management and Market Development at VMware, who explained the company has “been around since 1998,” and that “starting around June ‘05, we started talking around the concept whereby ISVs can actually ship their software preinstalled and preconfigured in a virtual machine,” and this “evolved into our virtual appliance strategy.” Krishnamurti recalled VMware “first started talking about this concept of being able to distribute software in a virtual machine in June 2005” and “at that point in time, we said, ‘hey this is a new software distribution paradigm.”
At that time VMware was working with “about six partners” like Oracle and Red Hat, who “preconfigured their software into a VM and put it up on our website,” and customers found they didn’t have to “spend any time installing and configuring our software” for evals, so the “time to value was vastly reduced.” Krishnamurti added, “since then, we’ve been talking to a lot of ISVs and a lot of customers, saying, ‘what do you guys think about distributing software already installed and configured to run?’ He added, customers “don’t have to waste a lot of cycles getting configured.”
The logic proved infectious, and the “virtual appliance became the new paradigm for software distribution in 2005,” and after starting off with just a handful of products in the virtual marketplace, So while VMware’s virtual appliance market started off with only “about 6 products,” just “fast forward” to the present day, and there are now “over 600 products listed in our virtual marketplace” and the “rate of downloads [is] two downloads per minute off our website,” and “we see ISVs saying, ‘this is a better way for us to distribute our software’” since it can lower their costs.
So while the paradigm was originally intended for support and eval, it has evolved for all manner of software products, since otherwise selling software is “complicated,” as vendors had to “send a rep to the site to get it up and running,” which is “pretty expensive for an ISV to do.” So far, VMware has seen “a tremendous amount of traction for distributing software in virtual machines,” and “about a year after they started seeing a trend where some vendors starting coming up and saying it was good not only for just evals but also a viable way for selling production software.”
Indeed, customers are saying, “’I can buy my software as a hardware appliance or as a virtual appliance,’” and VMware has “started to see a jump from evals to actual production use as well.” Krishnamurti recalled that “last year, in June, we started an actual certification program,” during which VMware will “run that virtual appliance in our labs and make sure it is really optimized for our VMware infrastructure stack,” so by “using that logo,” it’s “optimized to run as VMware infrastructure.” And as of today “we actually have 600 virtual appliances in the marketplace. Customers are taking note, realizing, “‘this is a better way to sell my software,” since “for customers, this is much easier for me if I don’t have to install and configure software.” Krishnamurti noted, “Some of the customers that we’ve talked to… have already deployed virtually appliances into production use today.” Indeed, coming into the marketplace is “quite the gamut” of companies that “we’re actually seeing,” and “the area where customers are very comfortable putting a virtual appliance into production use, the first area is the security space. For firewalls, anti-spam and that kind of software – a lot of vendors in that space have been shipping hardware appliances, and if you want to buy a firewall you get this box.” Krishnamurti noted “customers are getting used to getting these boxes and plugging it in” and having them be “plug and play” right out of the box. But then “here comes a box that is no standard,” and customers find they “can’t manage the software” so they “have to go back to the vendor,” lest it end up “not getting utilized.” Enter the virtual marketplace, where there is no need for a box, and the preconfigured software is available through download: “What if I can get the same software stack – and without the plug in box, get same stack and put it into a virtual machine and go deploy that for whatever virtualization platform they’re running on.” So, while “security software is the first place where customers are saying, ‘you know what, I’m going to place a virtual appliance down,” Krishnamurti observed that “now we’re seeing vendors like BEA, etc., middleware vendors, also jumping on this virtual appliance bandwagon.” And this is good news for the enterprise, the SMB, even smaller customers who might never have anted up for the plug-in box in the first place.
As Krishnamurti explained, “SMB customers don’t tend to have a large IT staff” so the “install is a nuisance for them,” so “for them, being able to download something and click onto a couple of buttons and boom, it starts to work – this is a tremendous benefit.” And for the enterprise, “they may have a lot of IT folks, but they don’t have a lot of resource to waste time installing software,” and once they’ve “bought software, they want to start using it as quickly as possible” and minimize the “effort to install and configure this thing.” This is evident in the rising interest in a virtualized BEA stack: “Also know a lot of our enterprise customers are very keen to deploy the BEA stack as a virtual appliance,” Krishnamurti noted, and “we have talked to a number of those customers as well.” Thus, VMware is finding, “it’s the whole gamut, we’re seeing interest from across the board.” So while with regard to deployments, “security is getting the most amount of traction,” virtualized security solutions are just the tip of the spear with much, much more on its way. As Krishnamurti observed, “We’re actually seeing interest from across the board.” He added, “The other big thing the virtual appliance simplifies, in terms of ongoing maintenance as well,” is you “plug it in and suck it up.” Basically, you just “install and configure onetime.”
But with regard to the “ongoing basis, what happens if you don’t have a virtual appliance,” and “you have the OS and app sitting on top of it,” then the “OS needs to be patched, the app needs to be patched,” but in reality, the “OS vendor doesn’t talk to ISV” and a “security fix could potential break my app,” and when this happens, “Do I call my ISV, or my vendor?” Which ever one you call might retort, “It’s not my problem,” with the ISV pointing the finger instead at the OS vendor and vice versa. This is “just a hassle” as “no one is talking to anybody,” and the “customer feels like” he’s getting “bits and pieces from different vendors,” and this is “very problematic – even if you have an IT staff, the number of people responsible for patching is just enormous.”
All this hassle goes away when you enter the virtual appliance marketplace. That’s because, as Krishnamurti explained, the virtual appliance is akin to a black box, something we may think of like a Tivo Box, which has Linux running inside – but you never care about it, since it just runs the way it’s supposed to. “Why cant enterprise software be that way?” asked Krishnamurti. “I should be able to buy whatever app I please, put it down and it starts working – and not have to worry about patching. Customers just want to see it work.” For the enterprise, this is a welcome relief from the long nightmare of patch management. “Even if you have an IT staff, you can say ‘Go work on something strategic rather than install, patch and do all that grunt work.’”
As Krishnamurti reflected, “This concept of being able to install software in a virtual machine and distribute a machine ready to run is something our company has been thinking about since day one,” and “if I talk to any of our founders, they were obviously thinking about that – it was not a surprise for us,” as VMware was not “waiting for virtualization to find traction before we started to think about other things,” but kept their eye on the future, listening to the needs of their customers. “Our customers, once they found out a little bit more about it, the light bulbs start to go off,” and they began to realize, ‘I’m spending a lot of time doing stuff I really don’t need to do,” and this realization “changes the IT paradigm. The more people we talk to, the more light bulbs start to go off, and we’re starting to see more downloads. As awareness grows, we’re seeing more and more demand for it.” Added Krishnamurti, “When the customer downloads that file, and the software is up and running, the sales cycle speeds up quite a bit.” Consequently, the download rate at VMware’s virtual appliance marketplace has enjoyed a doubling from around one download per minute six months ago to two. “Now it’s gotten to stage where it has actually doubled in terms of coming to the virtual marketplace and downloading of the actual appliances.” Added Krishnamurti, “We’re pretty excited about it.”
Virtualizing Security: SpamTitan Joins VMware’s Virtual Marketplace
Krishnamurti recalled that VMware started to work with SpamTitan about a year and a half ago, and noted they “originally shipped these hardware appliances, these hardware boxes” off to prospective customers. “Just think about evals,” noted Krishnamurti, “to evaluate the SpamTitan stack, they had to send an actual box, ship that to the customer and back as well. Just doing an eval was pretty expensive to them, and they couldn’t have a 1,000 eval boxes, this limited the number of customers who could do an eval of their software.”
The constraints imposed by the reality of selling hardware appliances raised an important question at SpamTitan – how to expand sales in their current markets, and also increase the number of markets where they can sell. Being based in Ireland, “it’s expensive to ship boxes to Asia or even America, it was exponentially expensive and this limited SpamTitan to sales mostly in Europe. But when they thought about the virtual appliance, they realized they can sell it anywhere – and take exactly the same stack, put it into a virtual machine, and now put it up onto the web marketplace and support thousands of evals at the same time.” Now, Krishnamurti observed, SpamTitan was “not limited to the number of boxes they can ship. Now their evals and sales are coming from the world over, expanding the total available market to which they can sell.” Krishnamurti boiled this down to “the two important things: one, they didn’t have to make any important changes to the software, and two, it opened up new markets to them.” On the former, Krishnamurti explained, “That’s the thing: with the whole concept of virtual appliance, the important thing is we’re not asking the ISVs to rewrite any piece of their stack, and instead of putting it onto CDs or a hardware box, virtual machines are almost the exact same thing as the physical machine,” and for the ISV, this is “easier for them.” And, Krishnamurti noted, an added benefit to SpamTitan: “given they were one of the first ones to jump on the virtualization bandwagon, they believe it was a competitive differentiator as well,” and thus their embrace of the virtual appliance marketplace “worked out very for them.” VMware offers ISVs a virtual appliance certification program, which can be turned around in just a couple of weeks.
Krishnamurti explained it was “a pretty aggressive testing matrix,” something that is “shared ahead of time” to help the ISV prepare. “It’s not something we try to ding people on,” but instead “we share the best practices,” and this “enables them to pass the certification as quickly as possible.” That way, “once submitted to the program for certification, it’s as close to certification as possible.” VMware provides ISVs with “detailed feedback,” so getting certified is something they can “turn around pretty fast for anyone who wants to build virtual appliances.”
Krishnamurti emphasized that “the important thing is we provide a lot of information for ISVs that want to create a virtual appliance,” and that way, “for ISVs to create certifiable appliance, the number of times we have to go back and forth with these ISVs is going to be reduced.” Spam Titan was “in actually one of the first, I’d say, ‘batch’ of ISVs to get their appliance certified. We had the website where we hosted all these virtual appliances, and we branded it as Virtual Appliance Marketplace last December.” SpamTitan was “probably among the first five ISVs to get certified, and to get re-listed on the new rebranded Virtual Appliance Marketplace.” SpamTitan, as one of the “first ones to do it,” has enjoyed “already some competitive differentiator to it.” The relationship with SpamTitan and its early embrace of the virtual appliance model has been good for both VMware and SpamTitan. “They were one of the first [ISVs] from the security/anti-spam space to actually do virtual appliances,” and “we’ve actually seen a pretty big uptick in downloads of their appliance, so we’re pretty excited about their participation in the virtual marketplace. The impact for them is they’re able to see a much more global audience – we’re excited to enable this, and to open new markets to them.” And “for us they’ve been able to provide us with some input into saying, ‘Hey, as you think about your virtual appliance roadmap, here are some things you should think about for enabling for us.’” This has made for a positive and reciprocal partnership. “As partners, we’re able to get some product direction input from them as well – that’s one of those things where both parties are in a win-win situation where both parties are helping out each other.”
While SpamTitan’s early embrace of the virtual appliance model has been mutually beneficial to both VMware and SpamTitan, and while it provided some early competitive advantage to SpamTitan, its competition watched and learned from SpamTitan’s early adoption. “Once people kind of got the word on virtual appliances and how it makes life simpler for their customers and their development,” Krishnamurti noted, the competition followed in SpamTitan’s footsteps. “Proofpoint is another vendor who found a virtual appliance in the virtual appliance marketplace” made sense, and is now a VMware certified member of the Virtual Appliance Marketplace. And McAfee just announced, and one I believe is in beta right now. Some big-name ISVs are starting to do virtual appliances now.” Outside the security space, middleware vendors include BEA, Business Objects, and storage vendors like LeftHand Networks have joined VMware’s virtual appliance marketplace, “and even within the security space big names are starting to say, ‘We should do something about this.’” Krishnamurti noted, “At the end of the day, it’s a great thing – it’s the same software but delivered in a very different and easy way. If I was a customer, if every vendor was going to give me a virtual appliance, it still comes down to, ‘What is the best product out there for me?” So in the end, “the people who are going to win are the ones who have the good software in the virtual appliance marketplace.”
Confronting an Evolving Threat
That’s something SpamTitan hasn’t forgotten, as it grapples with the evolution of the spam threat and its increasing complexity and lethality. Among recent spam trends, Kavanagh thinks that “botnets are probably the biggest” – but he added that in November of last year, he “started seeing graphic based spam, which looks like text but was in effect an image – and because it was an image, textual readers built into anti-spam solutions would be ineffective against them, and by and large they were – we would first have OCR technology built into our solution, and then the spammers went a step further: they started tilting and blurring those images to circumvent the fist generation OCR technologies released to deal with that spam. Then, Kavanagh added, the next biggest wave was PDFs — which have become very prevalent.” When victims “open them up,” thinking they’ve received an e-greeting card, “within there is the spam message” delivering a Trojan. The emergence of PDF spam has been “quite interesting,” Kavanagh noted, and is “tied into the area of botnets: sending out millions of PDFs was bandwidth intensive, something spammers could not do – but now with the use of botnets, the taking over thousands of PCs, by sending out so many spams from so many PCs, spammers can afford to send out larger files like PDFs.” Kavanagh has “been to some interesting talks that have demonstrated why it’s all happening,” and “the bottom line is – who is sending the spam messages out there? It is by and large criminal organizations.” So one big reason why the war against spam isn’t working is that “these guys break the law in 9/10ths of their business anyway, so international rules and regulations carry little weight with these guys.” Ultimately, when asking, “Why won’t spam go away?” Kavanagh said the answer is clear: “because someone’s earning money at it – as long as a buck is coming from it, it will keep happening.” And, he added, because spammers continue to evolve their malicious armory, they’re working tirelessly to keep one step ahead of the anti-spam crusaders. But the anti-spam software engineers at SpamTitan are working just as tirelessly: “There hasn’t been anything they’ve done so far that has really taken everything out, they haven’t yet been able to do that.” Fortunately, Kavanagh has observed, “there’s smart people on both sides of the fence.” When asked what to expect next, Kavanagh conceded it’s “hard to figure it out,” since “like the virus world, a lot of the solutions are still very much reactive solutions.” But one thing is easy to predict: when asked what we can expect to see coming down the road, Kavanagh’s answer was both sober and taciturn: “More.” And you’ll be in luck with this inevitable moment when less becomes more, as SpamTitan permits free trials/downloads of its software, at www.spamtitan.com. So when Kavanagh’s inevitability comes to pass, and you need help from the anti-spam pros to wrestle this more back into less, help will be immediately on the way.
