The highly competitive non-stop business environment nowadays dictates that organizations must provide 24/7 access to their network. Whether it’s an employee logging in from home to finish a task, a teleworker, a mobile employee—even third-party contractors and vendor partners—access to applications every minute is needed to conduct business in a more outstanding manner.
Remote access authenticates users to access data on your company’s network from outside the gateway. In providing this access, companies open themselves up to multiple vulnerabilities, with security as the primary concern. Remote access security solutions can proactively handle these risks and keep your business running effectively.
When it comes to remote access security, there are a number of available options to pick from. Your CDW account team can help you identify which of these solutions might work best for you:
Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a very popular method of remote access. Companies can incorporate a VPN as a means to provide remote offices or users with secure access to their networks through Layer Two Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) which is a private, encrypted tunnel from the outside into the network. This tunnel is prepared over public IP lines. Another type of VPN option is a secure sockets layer (SSL) VPN. The SSL VPN uses a web browser to make that private tunnel so no specialized software needs to be downloaded on the client’s device.
Network Access Control (NAC) is a complement to the VPN. A NAC product reviews all users attempting to access the network and verifies the employees identity. NACs also review the user’s system security to ensure they are compliant with the company’s security policy before giving authentication to that user an access to the network. If the user’s device is not compliant, the system will attempt to remediate the device so access can be granted to either the entire network or just the areas established for that user.
User Authentication/Key Fob is a token device that enforces two-factor authentication for remote users. To be able to access the company’s network, an employee is required to enter a password and a passcode that is provided by the token. The passcode is normally refreshed on a short time interval to maintain high security.
Encryption, as previously mentioned, VPN sessions are encrypted and the session is stored on network servers rather than the remote user’s device. However, many users still download and save documents to their laptop hard drives—a practice that presents a crucial vulnerability to companies when a laptop is lost or stolen. Incorporating encryption technologies on laptops and mobile devices can ensure the information is useless should the device fall into the wrong hands.