What exactly is a UTM appliance and why do manufacturers of these things claim that these appliances can help protect your network from malicious individuals who are out to get information from your databases or want to access certain parts of your system to either create chaos for you and your business or to make money from what they get? A UTM appliance is basically a hardware that is used to protect your network from intruders who want to infiltrate it and to get data from it and create problems for you and your business. A UTM appliance uses certain programs and software together with its other functions to help with application security, web security, and other vulnerability issues that your network may be experiencing or be prone to experiencing. What UTM actually means is unified threat management and a UTM appliance is something that protects your system and network from different threats that it may get from different sources. Examples of areas where threats to your network may stem from are websites, downloads, emails, and even Wi-Fi signals. These areas are protected with the use of a UTM appliance that has features like content filters, web filters, Internet filters, spam filters, and anti-virus programs. Aside from these features, your UTM appliance may also have capabilities for increasing your application security, which means that password usage and access to applications that your network uses has increased security measures integrated into them to help avoid the possible usage of unauthorized individuals. Increasing application security helps you avoid other people being able to access tools that your company uses to get sensitive information on clients and other business protocols from. The increase in application security also helps ensure the integrity of your system since this means that nobody who is not allowed to access these tools or use them can get in and do whatever they want to the information that can be accessed with these applications from your database. Application security may include personal passwords, regularly changed pass codes, and even changing procedures when accessing certain information that your company may have in the database and the network. The use of the combination of penetration testing appliances and protective appliances like anti-spam appliances and anti-virus software will indeed help you create a safer environment for your database and for the information you need to keep protected from people who want to capitalize on your hard work and your investments. The loss of money that is projected with such intrusions of hackers and worms that bleed you of the information you worked hard to get for your business should be reason enough for you to get a UTM or unified threat management system up and running. With the use of a combination of tools that periodically scan your network for threats and for holes where threats can get in and tools that get rid of these threats and close up any holes that may be open for them to use, you will find that your data is safe and your business is safe as well.