February Feature of the Month: Integrated Support for 3G / LTE Cards, Part Two

This is Part Two of our February Feature of the Month series. Last week, we honored the all-new Access Point Name (APN) feature in NCP’s entry and enterprise IPsec VPN clients.

Enterprises today are facing significant challenges related to remote computing due to their increasingly fragmented geographies. For instance, companies are not only contending with how to enable automated roaming between their solutions on premises and remote hotspots, but they are also responsible for making sure this seamless roaming is secure for employees working off-site.

To meet these industry needs, NCP engineering has enhanced its client suite to support integrated 3G cards, which ensure secure network connections for mobile workers when used in conjunction with the NCP Secure Enterprise VPN Server. NCP has combined 3G / 4G and VPN connection setup into a single, graphical user interface, simplifying the installation and deployment processes for both IT personnel and individual users.

Additionally, the NCP Secure Enterprise Client allows devices to automatically transition between a variety of communication mediums, including Wi-Fi, xDSL, LAN, ISDN and WWAN, making it easy for users to connect to their corporate networks from any location. Since the solution dynamically redirects the VPN tunnel without disrupting mobile computing sessions, employees are guaranteed uninterrupted connections to their networks.

Beyond that, for enhanced protection, the solution automatically recognizes secure and insecure networks to connect to while users are roaming. With its Friendly Net Detection feature, the IPsec VPN client then activates the appropriate firewall and security policies without the end user needing to lift a finger.

Want to learn more about the NCP Secure Enterprise Client’s integrated support of 3G / LTE cards? Additional information can be found here. 

What We’re Reading: Week of 1/21

CIO – IT Decision-Makers says Embrace BYOD or Be Left Behind
Dark Reading – Avoiding IAM’s Biggest Blunder
Network World – Are federal agency workers going rogue with personal devices?
SearchEnterpriseWAN – Preparing for a disaster: When remote employees overload your VPN

Forward Thinking: Network Security Predictions for 2013

The proliferation of social networking and the acceleration of personal devices for corporate use can be a boon for remote workers. Unfortunately, this increase in systems and cross-platform networks can also be a huge opportunity for cybercriminals looking to launch targeted attacks.

In 2012, the sophistication of mobile malware intensified, damaging individuals, businesses and governments alike, revealing one of the year’s top security trends: that the traditional combination of username and password is not a strong enough security barrier.

With this in mind, the following security experts share their thoughts on why more secure authentication methods are needed in 2013:

“The fact is that passwords, as a security technology, are reaching the end of their useful life. Moving to a world where alternative authentication systems are the norm is incredibly difficult, and as a consequence we are entering into a period of time when we are going to have to continue to rely on a security control that doesn’t work. Encouraging users to pick longer passphrases, and proactively auditing networks for weak passwords are steps that can be helpful during this time. Increasingly, we are going to see attackers entering networks with legitimate access credentials without ever having to fire an exploit that would trigger an intrusion detection system. We need to be prepared for this type of attack activity.” Tom Cross, director of security research at Lancope 

“Nine out of 10 intrusions involved compromised identities or authentication systems, so enterprises need to make sure they have a sound process for creating, managing and monitoring user accounts and credentials for all of their systems, devices and networks.” – Wade Baker, Verizon RISK Team

“The password-only security model is dead. Here’s why: Easily downloadable tools today can be used to crack a simple four- or five-character password in only a few minutes…Next year, we are likely to see an increase in businesses implementing some form of two-factor authentication for their employees and customers. This will consist of a Web-based login that will require a user password along with a secondary password that will either arrive through a user’s mobile device or a standalone security token. While it is true the recently discovered botnet Zitmo cracked two-factor authentication on Android devices and RSA’s SecurID security token (hacked in 2011), this type of one-two punch is still the most effective method for securing online activities.” –  FortiGuard Labs’ 2013 threat predictions, Fortinet

What do you think? Will authentication attacks, including stolen usernames and passwords, continue to plague network security?

How Can I Ensure App Store Security for my Remote Users?

*Editor’s Note: This column originally appeared in TechTarget’s SearchEnterpriseWAN.com.

Question: Remote workers in my company access application stores through their mobile devices. How can I ensure app store security for my users?

The best approach is to deploy a mobile device management system that allows the capability to block access to public application stores, as well as allows for a whitelist of allowed applications. Depending on the number of mobile devices and the application requirements, it is best to operate a company-owned application store. This has many advantages and offers the best control overall.

What We’re Reading, Week of 11/19

Dark Reading – Half Of Machines Shopping On Cyber Monday Likely Contain Vulnerabilities
Midsize Insider  – IT Security Threats: The Predictive Problem 
SearchCloudApplications – Mobile cloud trends: Apps let enterprises handle the risks of cloud computing
TabTimes – Study: Forget corporate deployments, BYOD will drive business adoption of Windows 8 tablets