ANTenna Blog -- Networking & Communications

The boundary lines between security and network management functions have been blurry ever since the first firewalls emerged a decade ago. Increasingly, Web content management vendors have been moving into the network management space, and one supplier, whose eyes have been on the small and medium business market segment, has moved in that direction.

Cymphonix has carved out a viable niche with its Network Composer appliance, which sits on the network and examines incoming and outgoing traffic. The company’s Anonymous Proxy Guard scans Web traffic hidden on non-standard ports and protocols and includes a dynamic content analysis feature that detects new and changing filter avoidance trends. The product’s design as well as its reasonable cost has meant that 2,000 companies, including those in the hospitality, healthcare, local government, manufacturing, professional services and managed service provider industries, to become customers.

The company announced a new release of its system, which moves it into the network management space with bandwidth management, malware protection, HTTPS inspection, and deep packet inspection capabilities. The change means the company is trying to branch out beyond its traditional roots, a move that many other vendors have also taken. Cymphonix has done a good job building itself from a start-up company to a viable vendor. As it expands its reach, it will be bumping heads more squarely with better know names. Time will tell how it will fare against these companies.