* VPN Consortium approves SSL VPN gear that support Flash URLs
The VPN Consortium has added another compliance test to its suite of tests – this one measuring how well SSL VPN gear supports Flash content.
As a practical matter, some businesses use Flash-containing URLs as part of Web portals that are also protected by SSL VPNs. If the Flash applets don’t work, the portal doesn’t work properly. For example, a navigation menu might use Flash-containing URLs.
VPNC already had a certification for SSL VPNs rewriting URLs in HTML, but the consortium says doing so for Flash is more difficult, so may pose more problems. Some SSL VPN vendors don’t have the option at all, making it a feature to look for when considering adding SSL VPN access to an existing portal that uses Flash. According to the VPNC, some vendors say they don’t include Flash rewriting because not enough customers ask for it.
In order to pass the test, an SSL VPN gateway must successfully interpret a URL that is contained in a Flash applet. The test URL points to a Web page on a server in a protected network and is made up of the concatenation of two variables such as http: // www.example.com and somepage.html, according to VPNC.
This is one of those little features that may mean nothing to many potential customers because they don’t use Flash, but for those who do, it is essential. The certification means the devices that win it have passed the test described above.
When the new certification was announced last week, three products had already received it: Cisco’s ASA series, Version 7.1; Juniper’s Netscreen’s Instant Virtual Extranet, Version 5.3; and SafeNet’s SafeEnterprise SSL iGAte, Version 4.0.
