Remote working heightens security
Published: 15 Jan 2004 10:30 GMT
SSL has been around
SSL technology is nothing new. It's been embedded in most standard Web browsers for years, allowing e-commerce vendors such as Amazon.com and E-trade to provide secure Internet transactions.
Even though SSL seems like an obvious technology choice for accessing a VPN, it's taken awhile for the market to gain momentum. Start-ups Neoteris (which was recently bought by NetScreen) and Aventail first started building products about three years ago. But business started to pick up only recently.
"I'd say the market turned the corner in the second half of 2003," said Sarah Daniels, vice president of marketing and product management for Aventail. "We've increased sales, lead generation and the number of resellers talking to us about our product."
Nortel, which has been selling its product for a little more than a year, says it has seen a spike in sales in the past three or four months.
"Customers have moved from the experimental phase, where they're only deploying the technology in small pockets, to deploying it in live networks," said Kyle Klassen, director of security solutions and marketing for Nortel.
Because SSL VPNs enable access from virtually any Web browser, they're a natural fit for remote access and extranet applications. For most Web-based applications, users don't have to use a client, making it much easier to give any employee or partner access to the network.
By contrast, IPSec VPNs require the installation and configuration of special software on all clients and can be clunky when it comes to remote access. It often has interoperability issues that can leave many road warriors frustrated and stranded without access to critical network information.
"What we found is that IPSec VPNs are fantastic for site-to-site or branch office connectivity," said Doug Torre, director of networking and telecommunications for Catholic Health System. Torre has been using NetScreen's SSL VPN solution for almost two years.
"But when you use IPsec for remote access, it's just too cumbersome. The doctors in our group just wanted to pull up a browser and start accessing the network, just like they would if they were buying something on Amazon or trading stocks on the Internet," he said.
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