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SonicWALL’s Mobile Connect for Android

LOOPHOLD Security Distribution has announced SonicWALL’s Mobile Connect client app for Google Android smartphones and tablets. The app is available as a free download via the Android Market. It provides the mobile workforce of enterprises, academic institutions and Government that use Android-based smartphones and tablets with superior network-level access to resources over encrypted SSL VPN connections. With the app installed, mobile users can access these resources across SonicWALL appliances, including SonicWALL Aventail E-Class Secure Remote Access (SRA), SRA for SMB and SonicWALL Next-Generation Firewalls.

While mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, keep vital business information flowing, they can also introduce malware, either inadvertently or intentionally, into the network. When deployed with or alongside a SonicWALL Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) the Mobile Connect app creates a Clean VPN to decrypt traffic while the NGFW decontaminates threats, viruses and malware from smartphones or tablets over SSL VPN before they can enter the network. SonicWALL Clean VPN delivers critical dual protection to secure VPN access and traffic by combining SSL VPN and high-performance next-generation firewalls. Additionally, network administrators can utilise SonicWALL Application Intelligence and Control functionality to identify which apps should receive critical bandwidth. This assures performance for key business, education and government applications, while throttling down other bandwidth intensive applications not deemed important.

As smartphones and tablets enter the internal corporate perimeter and connect via Wi-Fi networks, a SonicWALL Next-Generation Firewall scans traffic to ensure Android devices adhere to organisational security, application control and content filtering policies. With this capability, Android users can now experience enterprise-class security and control outside the network utilising Mobile Connect and inside the corporate network via SonicWALL Clean Wireless.

A key feature of the Mobile Connect app is End Point Control (EPC), available only on the SonicWALL Aventail E-Class SRA Series. For Android-based smartphones and tablets running Mobile Connect, EPC identifies specific device attributes and enforces they are met before allowing the device to connect to the network. EPC can also determine if an Android device has been jailbroken, thereby removing Android’s built-in security enforcement, so that connections from compromised devices may be rejected or quarantined.

Says Martin Tassev, MD at LOOPHOLD Security Distribution, “Android tablets and smartphones are commonplace tools for today’s mobile workforce. Companies must have tools to manage security for those devices both inside and outside the corporate network. With Mobile Connect, organisations can maintain stringent security standards while their employees travel outside of the protected perimeter, thus enabling greater workforce productivity.”

Now, with the Mobile Connect app for Android, users and organisations can also be protected while traveling and accessing networks from public hotspots or over 3G/4G connections.

SonicWALL also offers the Mobile Connect app for iOS, iPhone and iPad, available on the App Store.

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