VPNs Tunnel into Cellular
VPN, wireless solutions converge.
Virtual private network (VPN) technology has been used at least as long as the Internet, which made it possible to create a global network but also opened up those networks to intruders. VPNs were created to make those global connections secure, initially with a landline connection but increasingly using wireless telecommunications.
When Wi-Fi was born in the last decade, the standard for the air interface arrived with little built-in security. Enterprises using Wi-Fi were overwhelmingly cautioned to use a VPN solution to lock down the connection. VPNs still are the preferred security tools for enterprise IT departments, even though the Wi-Fi standards have evolved to include a number of security tools.
Now that cellular networks are supporting broadband speeds, IT departments are using VPNs to secure their mobile employee access. As these telecommunications worlds converge, so are the VPN solutions available to enterprises. And as wireless operators expand their enterprise offerings, they are being asked more about their VPN solutions.
Basically, VPNs use encryption and other security tools to create a private network while using the Internet for remote access. Outsiders cannot access an enterprise intranet without having a piece of VPN software on their laptop or other device, along with valid encryption keys.
As operators add data services to their portfolios and expand their enterprise offerings, they're being asked to provide different business-based services like VPNs, according to Kara Stanislawcyzk, senior product marketing manager for Nokia Enterprise Solutions.
Nokia is a leading VPN provider for enterprises, usually in combination with a network firewall. It has a new Web-driven security suite called Secure Mobile Connectivity that uses the secure socket layer (SSL) standard. The security suite also protects data on mobile devices and provides a secure connection from the device to the enterprise intranet.
Stanislawcyzk says Nokia believes it is in a unique position as enterprises look for wireline and wireless access because the Finnish company can leverage its existing enterprise security solutions with its heritage in mobility. Nokia has adapted its VPN offering for a mobile environment, she says, and is working on an upgrade that will provide VPN security during handoffs between networks.
Working with its third-party partners, including Check Point Software, Symantec and Pointsec, Nokia also plans on providing additional security features for mobile workers. These include antivirus and antispam.
TeliaSonera, the largest telecom operator in Sweden, recently started offering an integrated VPN solution to its enterprise customers that uses the technology of Columbitech, a Swedish network security company. Columbitech's Wireless VPN solution provides secure access over landline, Wi-Fi hot spots, corporate WLANs and W-CDMA networks.
TeliaSonera started marketing the solution under its brand in June to enterprises for mobile workers using laptops, according to Bertil Fougstedt, product manager for Telia Connect Pro, which is the carrier's enterprise access solution.
TeliaSonera has garnered a lot of interest from the enterprises it has contacted so far, Fougstedt says, because the integrated VPN solution provides simplicity and security. The software on the device is designed to log onto the best possible network available, whether that is a hot spot or the 3G network. If a user is within range of a WLAN, the client software suggests that connection first because it is the least expensive.
The VPN solution doesn't work with an existing VPN in an enterprise, although Columbitech's technology could be implemented in stages by an IT department for those workers who are most in need of an integrated mobile solution, according to Ola Jonsson, Columbitech's COO.
TeliaSonera is the first carrier to license Columbitech's technology. Columbitech has sold thousands of licenses but mostly through vendors like Symbol Technologies, Hewlett-Packard and Ericsson.
Fougstedt says enterprises like an integrated VPN solution from a carrier because the operator packages it with voice and data services and also provides support. TeliaSonera becomes more important to its customers that way, he says.
Another take on using VPNs in a mobile world comes from iPass, the remote connectivity provider that integrates its security with an enterprise VPN. A key part of iPass' solution is its iPassConnect client software that is designed to provide a single user interface for Wi-Fi access, along with integrated Internet access and authentication.
The latest version of iPassConnect supports both Wi-Fi and cellular networks using PC cards. It also auto-launches the VPN once the connection is made, according to Joan Fazio, associate director of product marketing, and has an automatic teardown feature that closes an Internet connection if the VPN is closed.
The latest iPassConnect version not only sniffs out and displays available networks on the laptop screen but also displays networks that are not part of the iPass network. In addition, it can be configured to collect quality information about connections so that an IT help desk can identify what problems a user might have had.
Fazio says iPass is negotiating with carriers to use the company's connection services and technology. iPass has an agreement with a CDMA 1X EV-DO carrier in the United States, although Fazio wouldn't name the carrier.
18-Jan-2006