Corporations have not considered the network security risks that come with mobile work forces, solution providers heard at a recent Square One Solutions Group road show.
Sixty-two percent of global companies have mobile workers, and there are security issues that need to be considered when allowing these workers onto a corporate network, Trevor Dearing, Juniper Networks` EMEA enterprise solutions explained.
The use of acceptable user policies is simply not enough, he said, because there exists both "bad people and careless people".
"When a mobile device tries to connect to a corporate network, it needs to go though a series of authentication criteria, asking the user what ports, programmes and URLs will be used, so malicious activity can be instantly identified," Dearing continued.
Host checking should be done regularly and if the user`s activity veers away from what was expected, the mobile device must be locked for security purposes, he said.
Integrated control
"Integrated control measures such as this are the only way to ensure complete safety and control of the corporate network. It could even lead to mobile workers being more secure than office-bound workers." he said.
As a precaution, Dearing also suggested intrusion-detection software be run in the background.
"Network protection is one of the most important factors to address next-generation network demands," agreed Louis Janse van Noordwyk, services exchange ranger for Microsoft.
Clients that have gone "out of the control" of the corporate network need to authenticate themselves in order to keep the network secure, he explained. This is done through a process of network access protection.
Lacking capacity
"Very few companies have strict policies or the capability to enforce these policies on strangers. But every laptop needs to treated as a threat to the network," Janse van Noordwyk added.
In order to enforce correct network access protection, he said, all points of possible entry need to be programmed to detect and isolate a non-compliant device. Once isolated, a remediate process needs to take place whereby the device is updated until compliance is reached. Compliant clients are then joined to a private network that allows only required functionality to do the job.
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