Sophisticated Authentication Holds Key To SSL VPN Success

Security technologies used to be applied mainly to the network perimeter, protecting the borders of the corporate LAN. However, security requirements today have expanded to encompass other access devices on the network as the voracious demand for remote access and mobile computing continues. Whilst companies can harness significant cost and productivity savings through the use of SSL VPNs (Secure Socket Layer Virtual Private Networks), their main weakness to date has been in the area of authentication, which was traditionally far weaker than IPSec. PortWise mVPN offers support to a wide range of authentication solutions and can easily integrate tailored solutions. Supported authentication solutions include dual factor authentication, RADIUS, PKI file based, token or smartcards, as well as LDAP, Active Directory and static passwords. SSL VPN is one of the key trends of 2004 as companies empower their workforces with roaming mobility through laptops and smart phones. Jupiter Research anticipates the SSL VPN market to grow to $986 million by 2005 with 80% of corporate enterprises having some form of mobile security. As the European leader in the SSL VPN market, PortWise has a client portfolio that includes over 150 corporate customers, 500,000 users and some of the world’s largest implementations. SSL is generally known as a Web security standard. However, it is actually a security standard available to any application With PortWise mVPN it is now possible to provide universal application access including web applications, e-mail, ftp, file sharing and terminal emulation. The PortWise product suite, shipped as both software and as a security appliance, is widely recognised as the most comprehensive and technically advanced SSL VPN solution on the market today based on its ability to address the key issues facing the next generation of SSL VPNs - scalability and policy management.