Fountain Valley, CA, December 5, 2005 !X D-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumers and business, today announced the addition of two new firewall and virtual private network (VPN) appliances and a powerful new application security gateway to its D-Link NetDefend line of business-class security solutions designed for the small to medium-sized business (SMB).

Addressing growing concerns from small and medium-sized businesses over network security, hacker attacks, virus threats, and increasing privacy issues, the two new D-Link NetDefend Firewall/VPN Appliances (DFL-800 and DFL-1600) securely control traffic and content entering and exiting a business class network while maintaining the highest levels of performance and availability. The D-Link NetDefend Application Security Gateway (DFL-M510) further protects small and medium-sized businesses from the growing risk of exploitation through commonly used instant messaging and peer-to-peer applications with hardware-based layer seven payload inspection capability, providing SMBs with administration tools to monitor and control the misuse of Internet bandwidth, block malware, and enforce company security and usage policies.

"The D-Link NetDefend line of security appliances serve the need for a company's network to stay up and running in the midst of ongoing malicious attacks and outside threats, which is invaluable in today's extremely competitive business environment," said Steven Joe, president and CEO for D-Link. "NetDefend takes today's toughest intruder attack challenges head-on by offering small to medium-sized businesses protection with flexible, robust, and powerful security solutions that defend and adapt to the ever-changing threats thrust at companies."

"Network security solutions are an important pillar of D-Link's end-to-end strategy for small and medium businesses," stated Norm Bogen, Director of Networking with In-Stat. "The D-Link NetDefend VPN firewall and application security products address the need for robust and sturdy defensive weapons to protect companies from the growing exposure to sophisticated network attacks and exploits."

The impressive D-Link NetDefend Application Security Gateway (DFL-M510) is a new breed of security product that combines both intrusion detection and intrusion protection with a hardware-based layer-seven application filter. The D-Link NetDefend Application Security Gateway, which is positioned inline between a company's internal network and their network firewall, is an effective tool to address the threats businesses face from the increased use of instant messaging and peer-to-peer applications.

By enforcing a company's security and acceptable use policies through the deployment of the D-Link DFL-M510, businesses will reap the benefits of reclaimed Internet bandwidth, protection from malicious agents hidden inside application traffic, and reduced legal liability from an employee's Internet usage while at work. The D-Link NetDefend Application Security Gateway provides group, network, or host level policy configuration to control and manage file transfers, streaming media, web applications, or personal email usage.

The D-Link NetDefend Desktop VPN Firewall (DFL-800) supports up to 25,000 concurrent sessions and is a next-generation security appliance that provides integrated Network Address Translation (NAT), Stateful Packet Inspection Firewall, advanced content filtering, Intrusion Detection, bandwidth management, OSPF routing, and Virtual Private Network (VPN) support in a single high performance solution. The D-Link NetDefend Desktop VPN Firewall includes seven trusted 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN ports, dual load-balanced 10/100 Mbps Ethernet WAN ports, and a user-configurable 10/100 Mbps Ethernet DMZ port to support local servers for e-mail, Web, or FTP.

Several enterprise-class firewall features on the D-Link NetDefend Desktop VPN Firewall assist administrators in managing, monitoring, and maintaining a high performance and secure network infrastructure. Security control features of the D-Link DFL-800 include intrusion detection pattern matching with automatic pattern updates as well as URL, keyword, and Java/ActiveX script filtering. The D-Link NetDefend Desktop VPN Firewall is SNMP manageable and offers monitoring and maintenance features such as remote management, e-mail alerts, extensive system logging, and real-time statistics.

For secured remote access, the D-Link NetDefend Desktop VPN Firewall has both an integrated VPN Client and Server to support almost any required VPN configuration. With a hardware VPN engine supporting up to 300 dedicated VPN tunnels, the D-Link DFL-800 offers IPSec, PPTP, and L2TP protocol support as well as advanced DES, 3DES, AES, Twofish, Blowfish, and CAST-128 encryption, Manual or IKE/ISAKMP key management, and authentication support using either an external RADIUS server or a 500-user internal database.