Skip Links

Network World

  • Social Web 
  • Email 
  • Close

Blue Coat device aims to make remote access more secure

Blue Coat RA enforces security policies on remote computers
Security: Network Access Control Alert By Tim Greene , Network World , 10/03/2006
Tim Greene
Sign up for this newsletter now!

Senior Editor Tim Greene clarifies issues surrounding the evolving NAC security architecture.

  • Share/Email
  • Comment
  • Print

Blue Coat is introducing an SSL VPN device that overcomes some of the practical difficulties of extending VPN access to untrusted computers.

The device, called Blue Coat RA (which stands for remote access), can push an executable file to remote machines that makes it possible to access client-server applications as well as enforce security policies on those remote computers.

These features can be extended to any computer regardless of whether the end user has administrative rights. So a borrowed machine or a home machine owned by an employee could be used. The remote computer could also be a corporate-issued machine where an administrator, not the end user, has administrative rights.

Enabling some endpoint-checking features and shims that are part of other vendors' SSL VPN gear requires administrative access, which can be a hindrance to actually deploying the technology.

In addition, the executable, called Blue Coat Connector, downloads security policies that it enforces on VPN activity. For example, it can force encryption of data that is downloaded to temporary files on the remote computer's hard drive to protect them from being read.

Connector can also suppress the activity of spyware on a machine. A keylogger that attempts to record keystrokes can be thwarted by allowing only a particular application and no other processes on the computer to have access to the keystroke information. The logger will not have access to the data it is trying to steal, thereby securing work being done on the remote machine during the VPN session.

Blue Coat RA uses SOCKS proxying to connect remote machines to corporate networks, making it possible to access client server applications without inserting shims in the kernel of the remote computer.

The device comes in three models that range in price from $7,000 to $55,000.

Tim Greene is senior editor at Network World.

  • Share/Email
  • Comment
  • Print
Partner Content

Brilliantly simple security and control solutions for email, web and endpoint

www.sophos.com

Stopping data leakage

Learn how to exploit your current security investment to control the information that flows into, through and out of your network.

Download the white paper.

Why detection rates aren't enough

Evaluating endpoint security products is a time-consuming and daunting task. Learn the six critical questions you need to ask prospective vendors to get the right endpoint solution.

Download the white paper.

Applications: taking back control

Employees installing unauthorized applications is a growing threat to business security and productivity. Cost-effectively reduce this threat by integrating control into your malware protection.

Learn more today.

Comment
Login
Forgot your account info?
Add comment
Anonymous comments subject to approval. Register here for member benefits.
Have a NetworkWorld account? Log in here. Register now for a free account.

Videos

rssRss Feed

Whitepapers

Stock Spam: A Classic Scam

Ever since there have been stocks and shares there have been so called "pump 'n' dump" scams. This...

Spyware: Know Your Enemy

Like Macavity, the fictional feline in T. S. Eliot's well-known poem, spyware may be considered to...

The Online Shadow Economy: A Billion Dollar Market For Malware Authors

Malware, meaning computer viruses, trojans and spyware, is about money. The teenagers who wrote...

Webcasts

SQL Server Consolidation: Insights from customers, analysts & HP

Microsoft SQL Server has enjoyed phenomenal success as a database server. Its relatively low cost,...

Minimizing the Risk of Information Security Breaches: Best Practices for SOA Governance and Compliance - Live October 21

Today's enterprises face more information security risks and vulnerabilities than ever before....

Migrating to Windows Vista: Necessity and Opportunity

The Vista era of Windows is here. Yet most organizations will retain Windows XP alongside new Vista...

Special Reports

Unified Threat Management from CheckPoint

Discover why Unified Threat Management Firewalls are ready for the enterprise today. High...

The Evolution of Network Security

We have so many holes punched in our firewalls today that many industry insiders question the value...

The self-managed network

We aren't there yet, but advances in network and systems management tools are making it possible to...

Get instant email notification when white papers, webcasts, executive guides are added to our library. Stay informed and up-to-date with the latest on IT Technologies with Network World's Resource Alerts.
Network World,to go. Wherever you are. Breaking news delivered to your mobile device. Select the hottest topics in networking and start receiving Network World on your mobile device today.