Network security firm Stonesoft has become the latest security vendor to launch new products and partnership deals in the burgeoning virtualisation space.

At the VMworld Europe event this week the firm launched a new firewall/VPN product designed to protect the network and ensure business continuity in physical and virtual environments.

The virtual StoneGate Firewall/VPN appliance behaves in the same way as a physical firewall, protecting virtual servers and ensuring communications between parallel virtual private networks are secured, according to the firm's product marketing manager, Klaus Majewski.

"The main chellenges for customers of virtualisation include initial cost … and the probability that new information security problems will occur," he added. "Our solution is to put [security] inside the virtual environment but still have centralised management so the [administrator] doesn't have to learn anything new."

The centralised management capabilities mean that the IT department can apply security policies and gain visibility into physical and virtual environments from the same place, boosting flexibility and cost savings, he added.

Stonesoft also announced that it is entering the VMware Technology Alliance Partner Program with an aim to take a leadership position in the security of virtual environments and virtualising network security.