Does Your Small Or Medium Business Require SSL VPN?

Virtual Private Networking (VPN) refers to a secure way for traveling executives, employees and telecommuters who work from home to hook up with the company's local area network (LAN) to access the resources from the company's network, according to their needs. Today, the market boasts a number of VPN options, of which SSL VPN is one.

SSL-based VPN solutions: Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) based VPN appliances and related software products are available from several sources.

SSL is a simple to use technology. It uses public key cryptography or public/secret key pairs to make a safe channel to send data. Here, management and deployment are less complex than in other systems such as IPsecVPNs. For small and mid-sized business, this is vital to know as they do not have large IT personnel or personnel with this domain expertise to help troubleshoot IPsec VPN hitches.

SSL VPNs are usually pre-installed on most computers or Web browsers. So, they can be set up from machines on which the user is unable to install his client's software, as in public kiosks. This makes using this system very easy for the lay person and provides more flexibility to make a remote link to the company's LAN.

The objective of setting up a SSL VPN is to give remote users a safe channel through which they can access a private network. However, there are risks involved with allowing the use of any kind of remote access, such as SSL VPN. These risks include passwords that can be cracked or unauthorized people accessing the network by using the VPN server. The antidote to this ill is to set up strong passwords and reduced further by using two-factor authentication, as in smart cards.

Split tunneling is another kind or risk faced by all kinds of VPN connections. This happens when the remote computer is linked to the company's LAN and simultaneously to other sites on the Internet. If the remote worker's system is entered into through the Internet connection, attackers can easily use the SSL VPN tunnel to enter the organization's network. In order to prevent split tunneling, SSL VPN clients should be configured.

Considering SSL VPNs can be set up while using public computers, it adds to the risk level of the company's network because these computer systems may not have adequate security measures and upgrades or may not run any antivirus software or perhaps do not use any host-based firewalls. Besides, public computer systems usually do not have two-factor authentication because their clientele does not include smart card readers or their USB ports are usually disabled.

If your SSL VPN is properly implemented, organizations can check the status of remote computers that try to link up with their network via SSL VPN. These technologies are so advanced that they allow organizations to set terms such as firewalls, updates, service packs and antivirus that can be tracked and checked. If remote computers do not meet these basic standards, they can easily be blocked from trying to set up SSL VPN connections to an organization's network.

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