Network
security and data protection solutions specialist SonicWall announced the
release of the Mobile Connect application, which runs on iOS 4.2 and higher,
for Apple devices such as the iPad and iPhone. For users of SonicWall’s SSL VPN
and Next-Generation Firewall product lines, the Mobile App, available via
Apple’s App Store, enables secure remote access and connectivity from Apple
devices to all network resources. A single unified SSL VPN client, Mobile
Connect is supported across all current SonicWall Secure Remote Access (SRA)
and Aventail E-Class SRA, as well as TZ, Network Security Appliance (NSA),
E-Class NSA and SuperMassive E10000 Series firewalls.
The
application provides "VPN on Demand" and encrypts traffic whenever
users attempt to access protected internal resources. Further capabilities are
added when Mobile Connect users communicate through a SonicWall firewall.
Network administrators can enable Clean VPN (with the company’s Gateway
Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware and Intrusions Prevention scanning over VPN
connections) and help ensure communications relayed through the iOS devices are
clean of malware. Additionally, network administrators can utilize SonicWall
Application Intelligence and Control functionality to identify which iOS apps
should receive critical bandwidth.
For
internal users of iOS devices, IT administrators are already able to utilize
SonicWall’s Clean Wireless (data encryption and Gateway Anti-Virus,
Anti-Spyware and Intrusion Prevention over WLAN networks) as well as the
company’s content filtering services to meet compliance and policy
requirements. Now, with the Mobile Connect app, users and organizations can be
protected while traveling and accessing networks from public hotspots.
"Everyone
knows that iPhones and iPads are revolutionary devices that have enabled a
level of mobile productivity we haven’t seen before," said Mark Bouchard,
founder of IT research and advisory firm AimPoint Group. "Mobile Connect
makes it simple and straightforward for enterprises to embrace this game-changing
platform by allowing millions of SonicWall customers to securely access
corporate networks and boost their mobile productivity even further."
SonicWall
also released the E-Class SRA EX9000 running on the company’s Aventail 10.6
architecture, which enables IT organizations in large enterprises to provide
remote access for devices running Windows and Windows Mobile, Apple Mac OS and
iOS, Google Android and Linux. Through a single appliance, the platform
delivers access and control with clientless and client SSL VPN connectivity for
up to 20,000 concurrent mobile users. The release complements the company’s
Mobile Connect application.
Using
end-point control and strong authentication, the Aventail E-Class SRA
determines the identity of the user and the security posture of the device and
allows the appropriate level of access to network resources including shared
folders and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), client-server applications,
intranet sites and email.
"Gartner
predicts that 90 percent of businesses will support corporate applications on
mobile devices by 2014. Today, mobile devices are critical building blocks of
business infrastructure," said Patrick Sweeney, vice president product
management and corporate marketing at SonicWall. "While companies may no
longer own the device an employee uses to access data, SonicWall gives network
administrators secure remote access tools for business-critical applications on
a massive scale over the broadest range of devices and OS’s."