SafeWeb gives access to all areas

SafeWeb is joining the ranks of Secure Sockets Layer remote access vendors that offer access to virtually all network resources via Web browsers.

With its SEA Tsunami 4.0 software release, the company claims it supports all network resources including dynamic TCP applications as well as devices that do not use TCP/IP, such as Session Initiation Protocol-based voice over IP.

Previously, SEA Tsunami supported access to Web-based applications as well as client server software. That enabled access to such things as e-mail and static TCP applications, including Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes.  Previous versions of the SEA Tsunami also supported access to terminal applications such as Telnet, VT100 and IBM327. It also supported specific client-server applications from Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Siebel, Symantec, Citrix and other vendors.

The new software enables the type of access users get when connected to an Ethernet LAN, SafeWeb says, meaning that users are not restricted to specific applications once they are authorized for access.

Businesses might not want to deploy this type of access as widely as they would Web access because if an unauthorized user managed to commandeer a connection, it would leave too much of the network vulnerable. Some businesses say they prefer granting these network-layer capabilities to some few users who absolutely need full access.

A larger group that needs access to just a few applications get some subset of SEA Tsunami’s earlier features. If unauthorized users gain access through these connections, the potential to do damage is restricted.

SEA Tsunami 4.0 is available now for $9,500 with a license for 50 concurrent users. The company says that until October, the network layer access will be included in that price. But the company did not say what happens after that.