Portugal Telecom Selects Crossbeam's Security Platform to Deliver Managed Security Services, Protect Country's Largest Web Portal

BOXBOROUGH, Mass., March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Crossbeam Systems, Inc., the leading provider of next-generation security platforms for high-performance networks, today announced that Portugal Telecom has successfully deployed Crossbeam's X-Series™ security platform. Portugal Telecom, the largest telecommunications provider in the country, is using Crossbeam to protect SAPO, the country's largest Web portal. Portugal Telecom is also using Crossbeam's state-of-the-art platform to deliver managed security services to its enterprise customers through PT-PRIME, a Portugal Telecom company offering a portfolio of IP-based services.

"As a leading service provider, we have to consider that our customers' usage demands will grow over time. We need a security architecture that can scale with this demand, without degrading performance or taxing IT resources," said Maximilian Xavier, manager of Networking and Security Datacenter Managed Services Division for Portugal Telecom. "Crossbeam meets our needs, offering the carrier-grade performance, scalability and security required for our customers, along with the ability to quickly respond to evolving security threats."

Crossbeam's X-Series is the only platform that virtualizes the network -- i.e., security appliances, load balancers, cables, switches -- creating a separate virtualized security infrastructure that enables companies to realize the full benefits of virtualization while still delivering extremely high levels of security and performance. It is the highest-performing security platform, tested to "real world" rates of 40 Gbps with ultra-low latency, providing unprecedented scalability and flexibility to meet the needs of customers. Today more than 900 leading enterprises and service providers, including 10 of the top 11 telecom carriers worldwide, rely on the X-Series.

Crossbeam also offers the only security platform that lets customers choose the best-of-breed security applications they want from the leading providers. This approach was a key differentiator for Portugal Telecom.

"We wanted to consolidate several of the security platforms and services, and Crossbeam allows us to integrate different security technologies in a single platform with centralized management," Xavier added. "Crossbeam lets us easily virtualize and scale these services as needed to meet customers' specific security requirements, which offers a real competitive advantage."

"Portugal Telecom is a great example of what our customers are demanding," said Juan Grau, sales manager, Iberia for Crossbeam Systems. "Crossbeam doesn't focus on building security applications. We leave that to our best-of-breed partners, which is ultimately what customers want. We focus on making sure these security services are optimized for high-performance networks, either as part of a managed security service or for internal infrastructure protection."  

About Portugal Telecom

Portugal Telecom ("PT") is a leading telecommunications provider with more than 70 million customers in 13 countries, namely in Brazil and Africa. In Portugal, where it retains a clear leading position, the company provides a full range of fixed and mobile telecommunication services, including voice, broadband and television, and covers all segments of the market: consumer, residential, SMEs, corporate and wholesale. For the corporate market, PT also provides "IT and Security Managed Services,"   strengthening its telecommunications offering. Its international investments, which are focused on the mobile segment, account for more than 80% of its customer base and approximately 50% of its revenues. It is seen as the Portuguese company which has the biggest national and international projection and has a diversified business portfolio where quality and innovation are decisive aspects, along side the most advanced international companies in this sector.  

Portugal Telecom is listed on the Euronext and New York Stock Exchange. Information may be accessed on Reuters under the symbols PTC.LS and PT and on Bloomberg under the symbol PTC PL. More information is available at www.telecom.pt.

About Crossbeam

Crossbeam Systems®, Inc. offers a proven approach to deploying network security that meets the extreme performance, scalability and reliability demands of large enterprises, service providers and government agencies. Its leading X-Series security platform offers an open, high-performance architecture that easily provisions and scales multiple best-in-class security applications to meet the ever-changing threat landscape. Companies rely on Crossbeam to intelligently manage risk, accelerate and maintain compliance, and protect their businesses from evolving threats. Crossbeam is headquartered in Boxborough, Mass., and has offices in Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. More information is available at www.crossbeam.com.

Crossbeam Systems and Crossbeam are registered trademarks of Crossbeam Systems, Inc. All other company, product or service names not owned by Crossbeam mentioned in this press release are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Crossbeam Systems, Inc.