LOOPHOLD protects networks from IT consumerisation threats with SonicWALL solution

Secure remote connectivity for up to 20,000 concurrent users of Windows and Windows Mobile, Apple Mac OS and iOS, Google Android and Linux

The proliferation of powerful smartphones and tablets poses a new problem for IT: providing secure remote access to network resources for a growing number of employees who use their own mobile devices for business purposes.

LOOPHOLD Security Distribution is addressing this challenge, also known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) with the introduction of SonicWALL’s E-Class SRA EX9000 running on the new SonicWALL Aventail 10.6 architecture. This solution enables IT organisations 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, SonicWALL delivers full-featured access and control with easy-to-manage, clientless and client SSL VPN connectivity for up to 20,000 concurrent mobile users. Together, the SonicWALL SRA EX9000 and Aventail 10.6 architecture equip businesses with rapid, safe and compliant connectivity to corporate networks from a vast array of mobile and remote devices.

Leveraging the recently announced SonicWALL Mobile Connect client app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch and existing Aventail Connect client for Android smartphones and tablets provides both IT managed and employee owned devices SSL-encrypted access to network resources. Some vendors only offer limited web-based portal access. Others piece together their solutions with a Cisco client. These traditional IPSec clients do not offer granular control over access to internal resources. In contrast, SonicWALL Mobile Connect provides secure, full-featured, network-level SSL VPN access when using SonicWALL’s Secure Remote Access (SRA) for the SMB, Aventail E-Class SRA, or Next-Generation Firewall appliances. Users or IT administrators can download the SonicWALL Mobile Connect app via the App Store and Aventail Connect can be downloaded from the Android Market.

“Gartner predicts that 90% of businesses will support corporate applications on mobile devices by 2014. Today, mobile devices are critical building blocks of business infrastructure,” says Martin Tassev, MD at LOOPHOLD Security Distribution. “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. As this trend increases in the local market, this SonicWALL technology will become correspondingly relevant.”

The Aventail E-Class SRA conducts comprehensive interrogation and proactive remediation, establishing trust before access is granted to user devices running Windows, Mac or Linux OS’s. Using end-point control and strong authentication, the solution determines the identity of the user, 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.