DEFENDO is a family of internet gateways from Linogate GmbH that combines a firewall, VPN, proxies, virus scanner and anti-spam into one UTM (unified threat management) solution. It is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, schools and other organisations, from a single internet connection to branch-office networks. Linogate supplies it as an appliance, offers a variant for medical practices (Praxis-Wächter) and builds OEM versions under partner brands. Third-party virus scanners, for example from Avira and WithSecure, are available as apps. Linogate sells only through resellers.
Linogate is based in Augsburg, Germany, was founded in 1998 and says it is self-financed; no parent company is named on its website. DEFENDO runs locally in your own network, so traffic stays under your control and no cloud connection is required. The manufacturer says its gateways contain no hidden backdoors, which is the vendor's own claim. For European organisations this is a firewall from a German manufacturer.