Raptor announces firewall for Windows NT

Raptor Systems Inc. recently announced what the firm described as the first enterprise network firewall designed for Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT.

Raptor is betting its new firewall, called Eagle NT, will appeal to network administrators who want to install system firewalls but who do not want to master Unix, said Erich Baumgartner, Eastern area sales manager for Raptor. Eagle NT has the same functionality as Raptor's original Unix version of Eagle, Baumgartner said. The Unix version of Eagle runs on Sun Microsystems Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp. workstations.

"There are countless organizations out there that have developed NT expertise," Baumgartner said. "All my evidence is anecdotal, but I am seeing a tremendous amount of excitement about this product because it runs on NT.

"The agencies are very interested in NT because they can put a very low-cost solution out in quantity. It's easier to administer, [and] the hardware is easy and inexpensive to source," he said.

Eagle NT enables the network administrator to secure a network connection to the Internet, with features including access control, strong authentication, DES encryption and detection, and alarm capabilities. "With this product, we have user transparency," said Kathy Lyle, product marketing manager for Raptor.

Raptor has also announced plans to unveil other firewall products designed for NT, including EagleLAN NT and EagleDesk NT to provide work-group and local-area network security; EagleMobile NT to secure communication between a home network and mobile PCs; and EagleRemote NT to secure communication between remote offices and a central network. Baumgartner also said the company is considering developing Eagle products that would support the Defense Message System's Fortezza cards.

Steve LeCompte, vice president of International Data Corp.'s Government Marketing Services, said Windows NT products are gaining popularity in the federal government.

Windows NT "is one of the most important server operating systems in the federal government, and its importance is growing," LeCompte said. Because it is "the fastest growing [server operating system] in the federal government in terms of percentage of sites installing, I think there is an expectation that there will be a lot of applications to run on it. It's viewed as more robust, application-wise, than [Novell Inc.'s] NetWare, and I think there's more confidence in Microsoft that they will keep it robust."

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