Endpoint Integrity Verification with Open Mobile

Monday, November 7th, 2011 Chris Witeck, Director Product Marketing

Last week I introduced the Open Mobile client v2.0 for Windows to everyone. This week we are going to take a closer look at the new Endpoint Integrity Verification feature introduced with this release.

The concept of checking the security of the endpoint is not new. Many organizations use different VPN and NAC solutions to ensure that a Windows laptop is configured correctly before allowing the user onto the network.

However, many of these solutions only do their check after the user is already connected to the Internet, and often require the user be in the process of connecting, or already connected to the network in order to perform the security check. What happens if the user never connects to the network? With more and more organizations deploying cloud based applications that don’t sit on the organization’s network, there is the increasing chance that mobile users will spend less and less time connected to the network itself.

This is where we knew Open Mobile could add value. Since Open Mobile is built to manage all connections to the Internet, it is uniquely positioned to be able to enforce security at the moment of connection. With the Open Mobile client v2.0 for Windows, we set out to make it much easier to do exactly that.

With this release, administrators can easily create policies that look for specific Anti-Virus, Personal Firewall and Anti-Spyware applications at the point of connection. We make it easy by providing an extensive list of applications to pick from so it is as easy as just checking an item off a list. If the user attempts to connect and everything is running as required, they can connect.

However, if they don’t meet the requirements, either the required application is not running or is running the wrong version, then organizations have the choice of prompting the user and allowing the user to continue or take several different actions that block the user to the Internet and/or the VPN. Organizations can customize the message that the user sees so the required action on their part can be made very clear and match the languages used in the security policies that employees are used to.

Want to learn more? Feel free to check out the video below which provides a short demo of the Endpoint Integrity Verification capability in action. Also, make sure to read more about the Open Mobile Portal and Open Mobile Client.

Be sure to check back next week as we continue to highlight some of the great new features with the Open Mobile v2.0 client for Windows.

Tags: Open Mobile Platform, Security, Windows