Internet security specialist eSoft has launched a range of new appliances designed to help IT managers secure web, instant messaging and peer-to-peer applications, as well as mitigate newer risks from social networking sites.

The firm’s ThreatWall Web Security Gateways, which come in three versions, combine both proxy-based and packet-based scanning engines, according to eSoft vice president of marketing and product management, Scott Lukes.

“Each of those engines detects very different things, so by combining the two worlds we are not only able to do URL filtering and malware detection but also application security, IM and social networking security,” Lukes explained.

IM and P2P applications in particular are problematic for IT administrators because they are growing in popularity among staff, and also because they can “elude web filters by random port hopping”, Lukes added.

“Social networking sites have also started to include proprietary chat and file transfer mechanisms, so this has been a big focus for IT,” said Lukes.

The products also feature the ability to monitor employee web usage at an individual or group level, and integrates with Active Directory to simplify the authentication process according to web access policy.

eSoft is also following the trend for convergence between email and web security by providing the ability to add spam filters and email server protection to the string of web infrastructure and application attack prevention capabilities.

The appliances are available in three versions: the ThreatWall 250 is for small branch offices; the 450 is built for up to 500 people; and the 650 includes Raid for fault tolerance, according to the firm.

Bob Tarzey of analyst Quocirca said the vendor is able to cover “all lines of e-communication, both old and new”, in line with the needs of modern enter prises.

But he warned that the vendor may struggle to rival SonicWall and faces stiff competition from competitors in the UK content filtering market such as Clearswift, MessageLabs, Sophos and recent Websense acquisition SurfControl.

“All content-filtering vendors are constantly improving the way their products work, the range of threats they can detect, the lines of communication they cover, the way they detect them and the speed at which they can do so,” Tarzey added. “esoft's biggest problem is how late it is to market in Europe. Given that it was founded in 1984, what on Earth has it been doing?”