Finjan Software Monday released a product that protects networks from malicious code trying to sneak into corporate networks as SSL traffic.

VitalSecurity for SSL intercepts Secure Sockets Layer sessions between remote users connecting over the Internet and the servers they are trying to contact. The device decrypts the incoming SSL session and makes the content available to anti-virus, anti-spam and content-filtering software. Once screened, the traffic is returned to VitalSecurity for SSL, which re-encrypts it in an SSL session to the target server.

Security software can't scan SSL traffic because it is encrypted, so it is necessary to terminate SSL sessions to get at the content.

VitalSecurity for SSL is sold on a CD that loads both a hardened operating system and the SSL decryption/encryption software onto standard server hardware, resulting in a package Finjan calls a “virtual appliance.”

The decrypted sessions can be fed to Finjan Web filtering, anti-virus and other malicious code-screening software to be cleaned up. It can also be sent to third-party security applications.

VitalSecurity for SSL can enforce digital certificate policies such as blocking certificates that have expired or just warn users about them. The platform can also let designated SSL sessions pass through unexamined, such as online banking sessions, to allow privacy for employees.

Virtual appliances can be configured in an array behind a load-balancing switch to share the work, and devices deployed this way can be managed as one via a designated master appliance.

VitalSecurity for SSL is available now, and price depends on the number of user licenses. Licenses cost $14 per user for up to 100 users, for example, and that drops to $9.80 per user for 2,001 to 3,000 users. For more users than that, the price is negotiable.