BorderWare gets relaunched

Two software distribution companies have acquired the BorderWare Firewall Server from Secure Computing, and launched it as an international company named BorderWare Technologies.

The Peapod Group and SeaChange have had development interests in BorderWare since it launched in 1993, according to BorderWare's European VP, Peter Cox.

Cox would not disclose the price paid, but he explained the timing to Silicon: "My bet is that the low end of the firewall market will expand as small companies get frustrated with dial-up Internet access. We will sell the BorderWare Firewall worldwide - except on the Pacific Rim - and we aim to introduce a low-end firewall with high-end features."

Cox cited email servers, Web servers and dual DNS servers as likely features for a low-end product. Version 6.0 of the Firewall Server, which will support cheap hardware, is due early next year, but before then customers can expect a product upgrade that replaces the Java interface with a native Windows one. In addition, BorderWare plans to announce an auditing and monitoring product this August.

BorderWare Technologies relaunched on July 1 but could not go public until now for fear of affecting Secure Computing's quarterly results.