What’s new in Syneto Storage v 2.2 ?

1. New and more flexible Folder permissions

In version 2.2 folder permissions where not manageable from UI. Editing a folder now provides a new configuration tab : Access Control. There you can easily change the owner, group or the traditional UNIX permissions for a folder.

Have you wondered how you can restrict or grant user/group based access to a folder while your Storage is in a workgroup ? That’s why we introduced the new ACL model. Granting or denying access to a folder is now as simple as creating a new ACL rule. Just select the user/group and the actions he’s allowed/restricted to do.

2. Improved CIFS sharing while in Active Directory

After joining an active directory domain you would like your AD domain administrator to be able to manage access to different shares. With version 2.2 this becomes trivial. After joined in the domain go to Accounts section select user ‘root’ and map it to the administrator of the active directory domain. This is it, one click. The Administrator of the domain is now able to configure the access to any share from the Windows side using the traditional Windows file security tab.

3. Local users and groups management

Local users and groups can now be managed from the Accounts section. You are now able to create/remove users and groups and  change  a user profile (home directory, password, group affiliations). In addition to other users the admin can now manage it’s own SSH keys for password-less logins. Tired of searching for a user/group in a long list ? You don’t have to anymore,  just type it’s name in the new search bar and it takes you there.

4. Improved Active directory integration

We have improved the integration with active directory by allowing the administrator to provide the LAN Manager Authentication level when joining an active directory server. So if you ever had problems with joining a Windows 2008 R2 AD server just set the LMAUTH level to 2 and you are all set.

5. Static routes management

We have introduced static routes management in the networking section. Your storage can now connect to any device that’s not in it’s local network … just provide the network route for it to get there.

And there is more …

• if you have less than 1TB then you don’t need any license for any of the available features
• you can easily reboot/shutdown the storage using the new buttons from GUI
• email notifications are now providing more detailed information

Check out the release notes for more details.

Our security partner Commtouch has just released the latest Internet Threat Report for April 2011, offering an interesting glimpse at what dangers we can expect this year. Worldwide spam has taken a serious blow with the takedown of Rustock botnet, reportedly responsible for over 50 million spam messages/day. The crackdown on Rustock has also reduced the number of daily active zombies operating as unwilling henchmen for spam distribution.

With Syneto and other security assets converging to tighten the noose around internet threats, spammers are thinking of new ways to distribute harmful content. This spring, email born malware makes a comeback – up to 30% of daily mail, PDF malware hides in fake Xerox scanner notifications, Facebook chat and phony Facebook apps were used to spread malware and the powerful Kama Sutra virus has accompanied a host of PowerPoint presentation.
In the spotlight:

• 149 billion – spam messages sent/day
• 258 thousand – Zombies slaving away daily
• India – still the most Zombie infested country
• Pharmacy add – make up 28% of spam
• Parked domains – most likely category to contain malware

To get a full picture at what’s to come this year download the report and take a look at Syneto’s Security Center
Syneto offers the perfect weapon to fight the ever expanding range of internet threats, Total Email Protection, so be sure to take a look.

We are proud to announce the release of the Syneto Storage software version 2.1 which is now available to our customers. Syneto engineers are always trying to meet our customer’s needs with new ideas and a fresh outlook on the storage environment.

This release comes with a whole new interface that’s friendlier and limits the time you spend configuring the storage to a minimum. Looking to empower the user, we’ve added a new history feature for the pool operations, that helps you keep track of all actions performed on a disk pool.

Starting with version 2.1, we introduced a new licensing model that ensures all products have the same set of basic features, while providing more advanced capabilities using pay-per-feature licenses.

Also in this release, several bug fixes and new functionality were added for CIFS/SMB, iSCSI and NFS, not to mention several IP, TCP, FC fixes and driver updates.

Here are a couple of screenshots of the new release, click to enlarge:

We would love to hear your opinion.

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss the Syneto Storage features post it on the Syneto forum.

• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation use the feedback form (left side tab) on our website.

Enjoy.

We’re proud to announce the Beta 1.4.0 release of the Syneto UTM. Based upon customer requests, we decided to implement the integration between our Total Web Protection and Windows Server 2003/2008 Active Directory. As a bonus, we also added the possibility to define custom time-based rules.

Syneto Engineers have devised a simple way to integrate Active Directory with the web filtering service in 5 easy steps. To see it in action, login to your Private Area account and download the beta firmware:

• Update your UTM to v. 1.4.0 beta
• Download the Syneto AD Agent (Web > Content Filter Settings) and install to your Active Directory server
• Configure the connection between UTM and the Windows server
• Configure the desired groups and time rules
• Sit back and relax while user traffic is filtered according to AD group access policy

Below are a few screenshots of the new feature, click to enlarge:

We would love to hear your opinion.

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss the UTM’s features post it on the Syneto forum.
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation use the feedback for (left side tab) on our website.
• Use our public demo servers anytime.

Enjoy.

Syneto engineers are always trying to improve our products, making them even more user-friendly and significantly upgrading their arsenal in the fight against internet threats. The new version of Unified Threat Management fields an impressive array of tools that increase productivity and slashes those pesky IT costs.

New features:

• Centralized whitelist and blacklist for all email engines
• Per-domain email whitelist and blacklist
• Whitelist sender from Quarantine Digest Message
• Retry to Quarantine Digest Message sending added
• Faster Commtouch engine
• Faster boot time

With spam, malware and zombie levels on the rise, Syneto engineers are always coming up with new ways to help you increase your productivity and earn more. So be on the lookout for more smart ways to protect your company’s network.

More resources:

• Case studies
• Presentation flyer: english; italian
• Security center

The latest internet threat report from Syneto’s security partner Commtouch, rounds up a tough year 2010 for the average email inbox. Although spam rates had slight decline this winter, there are still hundreds of billions of spam messages, phishing attempts and malware attacks daily. With Syneto and others tightening the noose around internet threats, vintage spam methods have been resurrected and mixed with some new tactics, whilst the holiday season has witnessed new and creative ways of distributing malware.

The highlights:

• 142 billion – average spam email/day
• 288 thousand – Zombies found daily
• India – the most Zombie infested country
• Sexually explicit websites – most likely to contain malware
• 42% of all spam was pharmacy ads
• Phony Hallmark cards used as malware/spam containers

Download the report for the complete picture of internet threats in Q4 2010.

Total Email Protection is Syneto’s answer to any and all internet threats. Take a look and learn how to make your network safe and productive.

Syneto’s email security partner, Commtouch, has recently issued their quarterly threat trends report for this autumn. With billions of spam messages and hundreds of thousands of other hazards assaulting inboxes daily, Commtouch’s detailed threat analyses play an integral part in understanding how to make the email environment safer.

In a few words:

• 198 billion daily spam/phishing emails
• 339,000 active zombies  every day
• Pharmacy ads make up 59.2% of all spam
• India shelters 14% of zombies
• Sexually Explicit sites are still the most likely source of malware
• This quarter, fake LinkedIn mails used for spam and malware proliferation

For more threat protection intelligence , download the report.
Syneto has a powerful system that defends your inbox against email threats. For more information about making your network safe, take a peek at Total Email Protection.

With spam and threat levels seeing dramatical increase in the last few months, email security must keep pace by evolving alongside these menaces. Increased danger levels for the email environment mean that protection software has to become more creative, complex and determinate at stopping these threats.

As a response, we are adding a new product to our portfolio: Total Email Protection. It is a smart and very efficient system that defends the inbox against “unwanted visitors”. Based on the champion UTM system, this new product is entirely designed for email protection and is the perfect answer for companies of all sizes that  require dedicated email protection or for specialized email hosting organizations. The new product is available as a hardware or virtualized appliance.

Among Total Email Protection’s many advantages are:
high efficiency due to the integrated malware detection technology provided by Commtouch
a clean interface that makes handling your inbox’s defense even easier
implementation is as easy as plugging the appliance into an existing network
an amazing price tag

A beta release of Total Email Protection is currently available for evaluation. If you’re interested in taking it for a spin and help improve it, drop us a line at flavius(at)syneto(dot)net.

More:
- Total Email Protection
- Presentation flyers
- Case studies: Netribe, Eco della Stampa
- Security center

Until next time, keep your inbox safe and come back soon for more exciting news.

I am very happy to announce that the Syneto team has become even richer with the addition of a new team member: Dragos Chioran. He will be in charge of several marketing related activities, amongst which taking care of our online presence.

Be prepared to see some awesome (and more frequently updated) content in the near future. I have heard rumors he’ll even be announcing something these days, so be sure to come back soon.

To help you get more information about our services, we are opening a new section on our website: Resources. It contains informative material (PDF format) aimed at people in executive positions that a friendly, simple overview of the Syneto products and services.

Right now, it contains two sections:

• The case studies show how various companies implemented Syneto products in real life environments.
• The presentation flyers describe our main services. We also periodically include the quarterly threat report published by our partner Commtouch.

We hope you will find them useful. As always, if you have any suggestions, feel free to let us know what kind of additional material you might need.

To download the documents, go to Support > Resources.