The Instant Message and Peer to Peer filtering provides extended security benefits over a firewall alone. Many programs have been cleverly designed to ensure they can connect through security devices, and have the ability to use common ports in order to reach the Internet. Some are smart enough to scan the device blocking them in order to find a port which is allowed through. They then configure themselves to use this path and can repeat this process upon each startup. With this design, they are impossible to block without a capable solution.

Using signature-based recognition, Astaro can identify IM and P2P programs easily, and gives the administrator the option to individually block these programs. Administrators can also monitor how often they are used, or remove the ability for Instant Message programs to send and receive files. Peer to Peer programs that use common transfer networks are recognized by their core technology. Many utilities and programs that appear to be a dedicated product are really just a wrapping for an engine like Bittorrent or Gnutella. Astaro’s filtering isn’t fooled by this and if Bittorrent is set to block, any program which uses this network will be blocked.