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Yoggie Security Systems, Ltd. Yoggie Gatekeeper Pro

Consider. You’re sitting in an airport using theterminal’s WiFi service. When you connected you noticed that there area lot of users in the area with their own WiFi access points set-up aspeer-to-peer. You know better, of course and, besides, you trust yourorganization’s security set-up on your company laptop. Or do you?Wouldn’t it feel nice and comfortable to be safe behind yourorganization’s firewall, anti-virus, anti-spam gateway? Out there inthe airport there is nothing to protect you, except your anti-virussoftware and personal firewall. Until now.

Now you can, for avery reasonable price (under $250) have a hardware device that contains13 security devices, is about the size of a cell phone, and plugs intoyour USB port. The Yoggie Gatekeeper includes a firewall, IDS,anti-spam, anti-phishing, anti-spyware, anti-virus, and a VPN clientamong other functions. Each function is a world-class commercial oropen source product, and Yoggie handles all updates for a single pricethat is less than the combined cost of updates from individualproviders.

As an example, the anti-virus software is fromKaspersky, one of the best known anti-virus developers in the business.The IDS is Snort, well-known to most security professionals as astable, full-function IDS tool. Content filtering is from SurfControl.The entire product runs on an embedded operating environment that theuser can manage but cannot compromise.

How it works     
TheGatekeeper connects to your laptop in one of two ways: redirect orinline. For redirection you simply connect the attached USB cable toyour laptop as you would any USB connector. The Gatekeeper is poweredby your laptop and all network connections are redirected through theYoggie. If you are connected via wire, you then connect the cat-5connector to the Gatekeeper. If you are connected via wireless, networkdata is redirected through the Gatekeeper and its security before itenters your system. You can disable the Yoggie if you have theadditional password. For inline connections you simply place theGatekeeper inline between your network and your computer. It supportscat-5 in and out.

The Yoggie supports up to five IP addresses soit is an excellent product for home offices and telecommuters. Simplyinsert the Gatekeeper between your cable or DSL modem and your hub orswitch and your home network is protected. The Yoggie is a proxy, soisolation is complete. You can set the level of security you want usingthe web pages that the Gatekeeper generates.

The Yoggie also hasa system approach intended for use by larger organizations that want toprotect road warriors’ laptops. The management server acts as a gatewayand configuration manager for Yoggie Gatekeepers in the field. TheYoggie administrator can set security policies/configurations for theremote Gatekeepers, and users will not be able to change the policiesor operate without the Yoggie plugged into their laptops. Themanagement server collects logs from the field and generatesappropriate security reports.

We tested the Yoggie Gatekeeper Proin multiple scenarios. First, we placed it on a laptop in our lab andtested it using both inline and redirection configuration. Using ourvulnerability assessment tool (NetClarity) and our penetration tool(Core Impact) we were unable to compromise the Gatekeeper or thecomputer behind it. The other Gatekeeper functions worked exactly aspromised and we came away from our testing satisfied that the productdelivers as advertised.

Following the lab testing, I took theproduct on the road with me on my laptop. I had a couple ofconfiguration challenges initially, but once it settled in, I saw noimpact on my normal computing. The couple of times I needed to contactsupport I got good answers. I use an add-in WiFi card to access myorganization’s wireless provider and it worked smoothly in each airportwhere I tested it.

The Yoggie allocates an IP address to thelaptop and picks up the external address in the normal manner (dynamichost configuration protocol or static). It performs full NATing,keeping the laptop isolated.

Yoggie was founded by ShlomoTouboul, the founder of Finjan Software. The Gatekeeper is a solidproduct and is available through a network of dealers and distributors.I am told that it shortly will be in computer stores as well.

Onesmall caveat is in order here, however. If you are considering theGatekeeper in a corporate environment, I recommend that you buy a fewof them along with the management server and run a controlled pilotbefore deploying organization-wide. It is a simple product to set up,deploy and manage. However, it is an entirely new concept for helpdesks, users and administrators. It is a good practice to get theproduct up and running, learn its quirks (I didn’t find many, and noneof any particular importance), and get your help desk comfortable withsupporting it.
— Peter Stephenson

Product: Yoggie Gatekeeper Pro
Company: Yoggie Security Systems, Ltd.
Availability: Now
Price: $220
What it does: Full-featured miniature hardware security gateway for laptop computers.
What we liked: Wereally liked the portability of and the ease of set up and management.The wide range of security functionality is impressive.

Product info
Name: Yoggie Gatekeeper Pro Description: Price: $220

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