A safe and secure hacker-proof firewall protection for large network servers, Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) servers, and certified by the National Computer Security Association, has just been released.

PORTUS, by Livermore Software Labs of Houston, provides organizations' networks with safe and reliable user access controls to prevent any form of intrusion or misuse of that organization's sensitive data. PORTUS is centered around a series of highly advanced security protocols, including out-of-band user authentication. When a user attempts to gain access to a network they must pass a rigorous set of security "challenges" or checkpoints in order to gain access.

The program also provides a never-before-seen generalized proxy server, a new feature for firewall products that makes it easy to add firewall support for applications being added to the network. For example, secure access for Lotus Notes users can be integrated without having to modify the Lotus Notes client or server. In addition, special encryption features allow safe file transfers off the Internet.

PORTUS is also the first product of its kind to provide a "virtual firewall" system. Users can protect their web servers by putting them behind the firewall but isolating them from the rest of the network. The result is as if the user has a single firewall functioning as multiple firewalls. This strategy guards against Internet hackers and network corruption.

PORTUS supports HP-UX 10 and AIX 4.1.4 platforms running on HP 9000 series workstations and PowerPCs from Motorola, Apple, IBM, Dickens and others.