SonicWall Introduces Mobile Connect for Android Tablets, Smartphones

Network security and data protection solutions specialist SonicWall, launched its Mobile Connect client app for Google Android smartphones and tablets. The app is available as a free download via the Android Market and provides users of Android-based smartphones and tablets with network-level access to corporate, academic and government resources over encrypted Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPN connections. With the app installed, mobile users can access these resources across SonicWall appliances, including the company€™s Aventail E-Class Secure Remote Access (SRA) platform, SRA for small and midsize business (SMB) and the company€™s Next-Generation Firewalls product line.

When deployed with or alongside a 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. The Clean VPN platform is designed to deliver dual protection to secure VPN access and traffic by combining SSL VPN and next-generation firewalls. Additionally, network administrators can use the company€™s Application Intelligence and Control functionality to identify which apps should receive critical bandwidth. The company said this helps assure performance for business, education and government applications, while throttling down other bandwidth-intensive applications not deemed important.

The Next-Generation Firewall also scans traffic to ensure Android devices adhere to organizational security, application control and content-filtering policies. With this capability, Android users can access enterprise-class security and control outside the network using Mobile Connect and inside the corporate network via the company€™s Clean Wireless platform.

A key feature of the Mobile Connect app is End Point Control (EPC), available only on the company€™s Aventail E-Class SRA series. For Android-based smartphones and tablets running Mobile Connect, EPC identifies specific device attributes and ensures 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.

“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,” said Patrick Sweeney, vice president of product management and corporate marketing at SonicWall. “With Mobile Connect, enterprise, educational and government institutions can maintain stringent security standards while their employees travel outside the protected perimeter, thus enabling greater workforce productivity.”

In addition, with the Mobile Connect app for Android users, organizations can also be protected while traveling and accessing networks from public hotspots or over 3G/4G connections. The Mobile Connect app for Android is available immediately as a free download from the Android Market. The company also offers the Mobile Connect app for Apple€™s iOS, iPhone and iPad, and is currently available on the Apple App Store.