* PortWise releases 4.0 Enterprise edition
PortWise is coming out with a version of its SSL VPN software that addresses a broad list of security peripherals fast becoming mandatory for purveyors of this type of product.
Called PortWise 4.0 Enterprise edition, the software is comprised of six discrete modules: endpoint assessment, authentication, authorization, SSL access, auditing, and cleaning up the endpoint. This is a pretty comprehensive list of factors that businesses are interested in when they consider SSL gear.
The software can scan remote machines to check for operating system patches, registry settings, whether firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, etc., are running, and what type of device is being used. This data is sent to the PortWise gateway server to evaluate, as opposed to having the decision made at the remote machine to prevent local spoofing of proper settings.
The software supports two factor authentication, including sending a one-time password to a separate Internet connected device such as a cell phone or Blackberry. In all, it supports 15 authentication options.
Authorization can be modified based on a range of policies. So a user logging on from a secure machine to a certain access point might gain access to 10 applications, but if the same user logs on from an untrusted device, access could be cut to one or two or be denied altogether.
Once authorized, users can access Web, mainframe, client-server, file services and terminal services applications, and the software keeps records of who access what from what machines. It can cull the data to write audit reports.
When a session is over, the software cleans out registry entries, cookies, files stored – all traces of the session. Businesses can configure the feature to allow the end user to override the cleaning. So a business might want to allow a user connecting from a trusted machine and who belongs to a certain group of users to store documents accessed during a remote session. The default would be to purge the documents.
The software is licensed at $70 per named user or $330 per concurrent user for a basic package that includes authorization, access and auditing. Other modules cost extra. For example, two-factor authentication costs an extra $90 per user. The software is available now.
