Ensure Information Security with SSL VPNs

For any enterprise, information security is of paramount importance. And in today’s business scenario, where technological advancements have increased BYOD prevalence, ensuring information security becomes very important to protect information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction. Hence, in the remote access scene, Secure Sockets Layer Virtual Private Networks (SSL VPNs) is gaining great popularity as it ensures secure, controlled and remote access to any application, from any device and from any location. An SSL VPN is a kind of VPN that allows remote users and mobile workforce to access Web applications, client/server applications and internal network connections easily and securely. SSL VPN refers to “a new and fast-growing product category comprised of a variety of technologies, based on the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.”

Before SSL VPNs entered the scene, the most widely used VPN was IPSec VPN. It required the installation of a client on the end user device to transport private data across the public internet. However, it was time consuming and made trouble shooting very difficult. With the emergence of SSL VPNs, the remote access scene has become less complicated and simple. It allows restricted network resources to be accessed remotely by means of a secure and authenticated pathway by encrypting all network traffic. Here is a look at some of the advantages of SSL VPNs.

• As SSL VPN requires no client software accessing Web-enabled applications, the deployment, management and administration of SSL VPN is easy and effective.
• SSL VPN provides secure, scalable, easy to use and browser based access to resources and applications
• SSL VPN being clientless makes the provisioning of new users simple and easy
• As SSL VPNs are easy to deploy and use, it leads to reduced support requirements
• AS it provides secure remote access, it ensures business continuity in the event of a disaster, pandemic or business interruption
• SSL VPNs provide encrypted authentication, browser cache cleansing, strong data encryption, endpoint inspection and forced remediation thereby ensuring utmost information security

Thus, SSL VPNs allow employees, partners, customers, contractors and guests to quickly and securely access the resources and applications for which they are authorized through a common Web browser. However, to ensure secure remote access ,users need to deploy best of the breed SSL VPN solutions. The following are some of the benefits offered by a best of the breed SSL VPN solution.

• Up to 3.2 Gbps throughput, 128,000 concurrent users and 500,000 users on a single access gateway appliance for maintaining security and driving productivity at scale
• 256 virtual SSL VPN portals on a single appliance, customizable to the security and usability preferences of multiple tenants and communities of interest
• Range of access methods including Web, Layer-3 and client-server connectivity
• High-performance 1024, 2048 and 4096-bit SSL encrypted communications
• No pre-installed clients; eliminates firewall and network traversal issues common to traditional VPNs
• Supports a range of AAA and dual-factor authentication schemes

With SSL VPNs facilitating anytime, anywhere secure remote access to business applications, it ensures increased productivity, while at the same time maintaining security and compliance.

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Increase Productivity and Ensure Security with SSL VPNs

In today’s business environment, where consumerization of IT has resulted in the popularity of the concept of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), employees, partners, customers, contractors and guests want remote access to business applications anywhere at any time. Though ensuring remote access helps enterprises to increase productivity, it is highly necessary that enterprises make sure that security and compliance are equally maintained. With security breaches being a serious issue, enterprises must ensure secure remote access so that authorized personnel can quickly access the resources and applications without compromising on security. That is where Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) come useful.

 

A VPN is defined as “a network that uses a public telecommunication infrastructure, such as the Internet, to provide remote offices or individual users with secure access to their organization's network.” Simply put, VPNs allow organizations to send and receive data across shared or public networks by creating a private or secure network over the public network. That means with VPN, public networks get all the functionalities, security and management policies of the private network but at a much lower cost.

 

Traditional VPNs rely on IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) to establish a secure tunnel between the two endpoints. However, today mostly SSL VPNs (Secure Sockets Layer Virtual Private Networks) are used. This is because apart from offering versatility and ease of use, SSL VPN does not require the installation of specialized client software on the end user's computer. The versatility and granular control for a range of users from any Bring Your Own Device - BYOD and any location is what SSL VPN offers the clientele.

 

Here is a look at some of the benefits of using a best of breed SSL VPN solution.

• Anytime, anywhere browser-based secure remote desktop access, enables increased productivity for employees, partners, tenants, customers, contractors and guests

• Up to 3.2 Gbps throughput, 128,000 concurrent users and 500,000 users on a single access gateway appliance for maintaining security and driving productivity at scale

• 256 virtual SSL VPN portals on a single appliance, customizable to the security and usability preferences of multiple tenants and communities of interest

• Per-user policy engine for identity-based access to URLs, files, networks and applications

• Controlled access from managed and un-managed devices including desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones

• Cross-platform support for a range of operating systems and browsers

• Range of access methods including Web, Layer-3 and client-server connectivity

• High-performance 1024, 2048 and 4096-bit SSL encrypted communications

• Endpoint security including host-checking, cache cleaning and adaptive policies

• Supports a range of AAA and dual-factor authentication schemes

• No pre-installed clients; eliminates firewall and network traversal issues common to traditional VPNs

• Familiar CLI and WebUI for ease of configuration and management 

Thus, SSL VPN offers greater levels of security, a greater range of access methods, a broader range of device support and the ability to provide differentiated, identity-based access tailored to the needs of multiple communities of interest.

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Secure Remote Access

Increase Your Productivity through Secure Remote Access

The word that drives technology is innovation. A discovery made today, is surpassed by another and the chain continues. Similar is the case of secure remote access that is becoming the order of the day as far as the professional world goes. Factors such as reliable and fast internet connection allow the service providers to deliver remote access solutions easily. The cost is less as compared to the traditional systems, whether there are one or numerous users. At the same time, there are disaster recovery benefits.
 
Why Enterprises prefer Secure Remote Access
With a secure remote access, users are experience a certain amount of benefits that are cost-efficient in nature. The moment the IT system is delivered remotely in secure data centers, the IT architecture, support and hardware costs are minimized to a great extent. At the same time, it helps the mobile employees, home workers, extranet partners and approved users to access the required business resources and applications for maximizing productivity. It further acts a business continuity solution that helps organizations to work even when an employee is absent for any unforeseen problem.

Service providers of secure remote access provide the users with various software applications, such as the SSL VPN remote access that helps them to access their work place from anywhere at any given time. Some of the benefits are listed below:-

* Offers a controlled access for both managed and un-managed equipments comprising laptops, desktops, PDA's and mobiles
* Provides a diverse range access methods that consists of Layer-3, Web, and other mentioned client-server and thin-client applications
* Offers a cross-platform assistance for a diverse range of browsers, operating systems, client-side security scans
* Has a dynamic end-point security that includes adaptive policies, host-checking, cache-cleaning, and secure virtual desktop
* Has a granular identity-based access control for files, URLs, applications and networks
* There is no network traversal or pre-installed clients issues and needs just a common Web browser for users to have access
* Superior end-user experience through integrated application acceleration and 256 virtual portals tunable to the preferences of multiple communities of interest
* Unmatched performance and scalability for remote access SSL VPN

Therefore, you can be seated within the comfort zone of your house and carry on with your work. The service providers also offer their clients with load balancing appliances that enabled in balancing the server load.

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Secure Remote Access Solutions Can Help you Boost Business Productivity

Every business aspires for enhanced business productivity and greater profits. However to achieve your goals you must identify the opportunities and harness them effectively. Business productivity can be severely affected during times of catastrophes such as earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters. Business productivity also gets adversely affected when an employee takes an unplanned leave due to sudden emergencies or tragedies in their personal lives. These are incidents that you cannot control or postpone, but they do affect your normal business operation.

When you are swamped by such unaccountable circumstances you will have to suffer tremendous losses due to lack of proficient alternatives that can help restore your business operations with minimal disruptions. You can now save your business from destruction by adopting the secure remote access solutions. The requirement for remote access is palpable as the number of mobile workers and work from home employees is increasing. With the remote desktop access solutions anybody can easily access their desktops from remote locations on any device that is enabled with net connectivity and carry on with their normal work without any conflicts in the environment.

The appliance-based remote desktop access solutions facilitate your employees to work without any hindrances. They can view their virtual and physical desktops securely on any device without the use of the VPN user base or extra laptops. The applications are provided promptly on their PCs via a secure network. The solutions are easy to use and deploy with the options for self-registration and single sign-ons from a URL or a mobile application. The remote desktop appliance is a cost-effective and scalable solution that helps in improving performances.

The architecture is highly flexible and encourages integration with some common security and authentication standards thereby providing you with a secure and risk-free environment. It helps in high availability of applications due to the high-speed hardware SSL encryption and built-in active clustering capabilities and provides the end users with rich experiences. The secure remote desktop access appliance deploys energy-efficient processes which help in saving costs and also does not impart any detrimental effects on the environment.

Many have experienced profound results with the appliance-based remote desktop model. There is no risk of incurring losses due to employees who are on leave or the occurrence of a calamity. The secure remote access solutions provide quick and reliable data recovery services without any data loss or leakage thereby giving your business the advantage to pursue your objectives without any obstacles. Remote desktop access methodology is the undisputed strategy that has the potential to leverage your business productivity.

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Choose the Best Remote Desktop Access for Efficient Business Continuity Planning

Business continuity planning has become an imperative in today's businesses. Unanticipated business interferences can take many forms. Regardless of the nature of disruptions, there is a possibility of a calamity arising that has the potential of preventing an employee from getting to their place of work. It is usually too late to implement a business continuity solution by the time disruptive events occur and that always results in a loss of productivity and revenue.

Over the last several years, remote access has become not just a beneficial feature, but a necessary one. It is a tool to increase the productivity and efficiency of companies and their employees, as well as a key element in successful business continuity and disaster recovery plans. An effective BCP with a detailed

remote desktop access strategy makes it easy to deal with these disruptions thereby avoiding loss of productivity and revenue. The majority of these losses can well been avoided with effective BCP strategies that needs to take into account the probability that employees throughout the organization might need to work remotely. BCP must be dealt with proactively, not reactively as devoid of protective measures in place, businesses will inescapably lose important productivity and significant revenue.

Adequate Measures of BCP
Regulatory compliance and government mandates require many companies to have secure, auditable access to key information, even during unanticipated events. Even if an organization is working under less than ideal conditions, mandates like Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and others remain in ef­fect. Compliance is one of the main reasons why government agencies now mandate realistic BCP implementations. Besides compliance, there is also competitive pressure that usually does not allow any company to let stormy conditions hold back its ability to respond to customers, suppliers and other partners. Companies can find themselves expending unnecessary cycles and resources without a BCP implementation.

Remote Desktop Access for Efficient Business Continuity Planning
It is best to therefore choose a BCP remote access solution specifically for office workers. It can provide simple, secure access to desktop environments, and also provide ease-of-use with straightforward and simple architecture. Choose a solution that delivers full application transparency even in a highly available clustered hardware platform, and can provide an easy login process without the need of any technical training.

No matter what type of secure remote access solution you choose, it is a superior business tool used to increase productivity by enabling easy file access during commutes, travel, after-hours work, business meetings and more. The flexibility of remote access allows for a mobile workplace has made it an essential part of business continuity. 

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Extended Control and Enhanced Revenues in Business with Remote Desktops

Applications that boost performances, leverage efficiency and agility and render profitable returns without escalating the costs are in high demand as businesses struggle to cope with the intense pressure. Organizations seeking alternative methods to accelerate their revenues without upsetting the existing environment are gravitating towards remote access solutions. To keep pace with the competition every business is realizing the need for remote workers and mobile employees. The trend of remote operations is fast gaining momentum as the users can easily work from any remote location thus ensuring business continuity.

The remote access solutions have helped many businesses to provide a freeway for conducting business operations through any web enabled mobile devices. Businesses are encountering encouraging responses with less risks and liabilities. The remote access model provides the user the benefit of accessing the remote desktop from any location at any time. The applications are easily available which helps the user carry on his normal work without any interruptions or wastage of time. The remote access service facilitates the user to self register the office desktops and access desktops from a URL or a mobile application delivery with the help of a single sign on.

The business environment is a dynamic one with constant changes. A business that has the capability to adopt these changes and make modifications accordingly is rewarded with greater agility leading to enriching renditions. The IT administrators are provided with the choice to manually register thes remote desktop as well as self registration by individual users through easy, simple, quick and transparent procedures. The appliances that deliver extraordinary performances ensure high levels of scalability and availability are equipped with high-speed hardware SSL encryption capabilities with built-in active clustering.

The SSL VPN appliances enable the offsite users to access emails, applications, files and intranets quickly and securely with the help of a common web browser. They provide identity-based access control for both managed and un-managed devices, URLs, files, applications and networks. They provide a supportive and integrated platform for a variety of operating systems, browsers and client-side security scans. Businesses are relieved from the tension of infrastructure maintenance and network issues as a common web browser is only used for accessing the desktops, thus increasing their savings on costs.

Remote desktops have revealed a new opportunity for businesses to make more gains with fewer expenses amidst high security. The Secure Remote Acces technology makes invaluable contributions towards the development of business in a positive and healthy manner.

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Secure Remote Access Can Benefit the Mobile Workers

Even a decade back the phenomena of secure remote access were not as popular as it is today. It has become a very essential aspect of our everyday professional life today. Due to the more reliable and quick internet connections available these days remote access solutions are easier to deliver. At the same time, with regards to the cost factor, irrespective of the fact if there are one or numerous users, the cost is radically much lesser than the traditional systems. Furthermore, it offers disaster recovery advantages too.

  

Secure Remote Access leading to Cost Savings

When you opt in for an innovative secure remote access solution, you are going to witness a certain amount of expense saving benefits. As soon as the IT system is remotely delivered in secure data centers, the IT hardware, infrastructure, and support expenses are reduced considerably. Otherwise, it tends to become a past thing, because it depends on the remote hosting company to ensure that the users can avail their, system, files and data to promised service standards.

Simultaneously secure remote access enables the home workers, mobile employees, extranet partners, and other approved users to avail crucial business applications and resources that results in increasing the productivity. In addition to that, as a business continuity solution it enables an enterprise to carry on work even in situation when any particular employee is not able to be at office due to unwarranted conditions.

Today eminent service providers have introduced multiple software applications that offers secure remote access. An essential one is SSL VPN remote access that enables users to access their workstation from anywhere and anytime. This is more helpful for the mobile employees and other home based workers. Few other advantages are as listed below:

* Provides controlled access for both managed and un-managed equipments comprising laptops, desktops, PDA's and mobiles
* Provides a diverse range access methods that consists of Layer-3, Web, and other mentioned client-server and thin-client applications
* Offers a cross-platform assistance for a diverse range of browsers, operating systems, client-side security scans
* Has a dynamic end-point security that includes adaptive policies, host-checking, cache-cleaning, and secure virtual desktop
* Has a granular identity-based access control for files, URLs, applications and networks
* There is no network traversal or pre-installed clients issues and needs just a common Web browser for users to have access
* Superior end-user experience through integrated application acceleration and 256 virtual portals tunable to the preferences of multiple communities of interest
* Unmatched performance and scalability for remote access SSL VPN

Hence, one can be at home and continue with their professional \assignments, balancing home and work. These apart, eminent service providers of secure remote access also specialize in innovative load balancing appliances that help in balancing the load of a browser.

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Secure and Fast Application Availability with Cloud Solutions

Businesses have realized the significance and advantages of uninterrupted operations. However there are times when you do not have any control over situations such as natural disasters, fatal accidents or unexpected events and deaths. All these unfortunate incidents can cause huge losses to your business. Though these events are irrepressible you can mitigate the risks and tone down the impact by employing smart strategies.

Cloud computing solutions have proved that your business can continue operating without any disastrous consequences despite any sudden changes in the environment.

The cloud service delivery model facilitates your business with performance enhancement opportunities and reliable security controls. The cloud solutions initiate faster application delivery services to users irrespective of the location and device. Thus mobile employees can be provided with immediate and consistent accessibility to business applications which helps the business to progress without any disruptions.  The cloud solutions also provide support to those employees who are unable to step out of the house due to an emergency.

IT security is a priority in today’s highly competitive environment. Every business is wary of adopting technologies that cannot provide sufficient security. The cloud solutions provide best SSL encryption platform, certificate-based access and deep packet inspection to ensure optimum application security without hampering their performances. All transactions are secured using the SSL VPN encryption method. The bulk encryption process is offloaded and key exchange from servers is maintained to improve availability, enhance utilization of servers and end-user’s response times.

The encryption solutions that are provided are cost-effective and advanced that eliminates the need to purchase and install SSL certificates for every server in the data center. You can use and install one certificate representing an SSL enabled DNS on the APV appliance and reduce the cost of certificates and renewals. The APV appliances can support up to 256 unique SSL enabled DNS names on a single system and deploy them for providing cloud managed services.

The appliance provides integrated security services, content filtering support and cross-platform support for various operating systems, browsers and client side security scans. The SSL VPNs appliances provide dynamic end-point security along with host-checking, adaptive policies, secure cleaning and secured remote desktop access. With the explicit cloud services your business faces no risk even in an unpredictable environment. The cloud ensures a highly secured environment for an overall consistent and reliable IT performance. Your business can gain handsome returns with mature practices and wise decisions.

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Remote Access Solutions for a Well Established and Assured Future in Business

The modes of operating a business are undergoing sea changes with the help of technology. The internet has helped in the creation of virtual business environments for uninterrupted remote access controls. As the world is discovering more innovative technological breakthroughs conducting a business through web enabled devices and remote devices have become the most sought after option. This option has created good opportunities for the home workers and mobile employees to carry on their work through secure remote access solutions and leveraged new earning potentials for businesses.

The remote access option boosts business productivity as it helps the users access the business applications securely on any remote device. A high level of visibility is provided that helps in controlling the processes efficiently. The remote access solutions are cost-efficient and easy to deploy as well as manage thus dispelling all concerns related to application availability. The IT administrators have a choice of registering desktops manually or through dynamic self-registration by the users, and these processes are deployed quickly.

Businesses are guaranteed optimum performances and high availability due to the use of hardware appliances that belong to the Universal Access Controller category known for its high-speed hardware SSL encryption and built-in active clustering. The appliances provide clientless web based access for easy use and deployment, effective authentication and authorization procedures as well as auditing of accessed applications and resources that are identity based.

It provides businesses with a sturdy and reliable architecture with highly integrated capabilities and enforcement of stringent authentication measures to ensure a secured environment. The solutions encourage compatibility amongst the devices and applications and ensure secured end-point controls. Due to the increasing popularity of new web browsers and remote access devices the secure remote access solutions can easily handle any number of client platforms without affecting the applications’ performance thus ensuring high quality and consistent user experience. The remote access solution is an energy saving solution that helps businesses to reduce their costs and cause less detrimental effects on the environment.

Molding a business according to the changing dynamics of the business environment is essential and very challenging. Thus businesses have to implement solutions that can help attain exceptional scores in scalability, flexibility and availability so that productivity is enhanced leading to better performances and higher customer satisfaction levels. Remote access solutions have provided a platform with seamless integration and collaboration capabilities, and commendable security parameters for enhanced business continuity and prosperous returns.

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Choosing the Right SSL VPN Solution

SSL is gaining popularity as a remote access tool with the remote connectivity being crucial for the productivity of the enterprise. Many client side issues associated with remote access can be eliminated with SSL VPNs as a technology.  With an easy migration, SSL VPNs also offer a more cost-effective, easier to deploy remote access solution than IPSec. Its blend of flexibility and function makes it extremely competitive. There is a wide rage of solutions available in today’s growing SSL VPN market, and it is therefore necessary to consider many factors before making a choice to purchase the best SSL VPN product.  

Security and user experience are the two aspects that SSL VPNs have to be evaluated against. A successful deployment of a secured solution can be achieved only by taking into consideration security and user experience. As a SSL VPN needs to serve the organization’s long term needs, it has to integrate with the network architecture seamlessly and also provide powerful management tools.    

Security   
As SSL itself does not make a VPN, encryption is not enough to provide the security required for today’s applications. An ideal SSL VPN solution needs to have a combination of different levels of protection like SSL VPN Firewall, Hardened OS, Network Gapping, Client Side Security, AAA, Reducing Network Exposure (Various Access Modes), Application Level Filtering, Virtualization and Network Separation. It is also important that an SSL VPN appliance provide client side security facilities as it allows anywhere and anytime access. This introduces the risk of unsecured devices getting into secured network locations. It is necessary for a user to securely download any required content during a session knowing that this content will be wiped automatically when the session is terminated.   

User experience   
There are a number of factors that determine the end user experience like performance, user interface customization, and high availability. An important component in a good user experience is the overall user interface, which is also greatly significant for user productivity. Any access solution with a poor user interface, be it a design or lack of custom business logic integration, adversely affect the productivity of its users. As the different options can create confusion for end users, it becomes crucial that the use of these different modes to be intuitive and have minimal user interaction as possible. A consistent experience with minimum downtime can ensure the best user experience.    

With an understanding of today’s and future needs, as well as careful evaluation of the capabilities of the different devices under consideration, a proper selection of a SSL VPN device can be made. It is therefore important learn more about the existing SSL VPN solution and be updated about the future developments. This is the best way to make an informed decision regarding your company’s secure remote access requirements.   

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