Network security specialist Juniper Networks announced enhancements to its Junos Pulse Secure Access Service (SSL VPN) and network access control (NAC) solutions, as well as technology partnerships with mobile device management (MDM) companies such as AirWatch, MegaPath and MobileIron.
The integration will consolidate policy management views into common dashboards and allow businesses able to leverage mobile device attributes such as device-location, device status and compliance across both Juniper solutions to create more granular and intelligent security policies.
Aimed at organizations looking to adopt bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives, the Junos Pulse Access Control Service and Pulse Secure Access Service now support kernel-based virtual machine (KVM)-based virtual deployments, in addition to VMware, enabling the NAC and SSL VPN solutions to work over a wider range of IT environments.
“Successful BYOD initiatives combine a great user experience with enterprise-class data security. Compromising either one is not an option,” Ojas Rege, vice president of strategy for MobileIron, said in a statement. “Our partnership with Juniper Networks provides intelligent, mobile-aware policy management for IT and no-touch deployment for employees to make the enterprise access experience secure and intuitive.”
Junos Pulse client support now includes Apple OS X Mavericks, iOS 7, Microsoft Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 RT client platforms for even broader mobile platform and BYOD support.
Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 versions will include Junos Pulse client connectivity built in. Junos Pulse Access Control Service v5.0 and Junos Pulse Secure Access Service 8.0 are currently available, a company release noted.
“Organizations are demanding greater levels of control and security as mobile continues to transform business operations and improve employee productivity,” Kevin Keith, director of business development for AirWatch, said in a statement. “The integration between AirWatch and Junos Pulse is significant in offering customers more secure, intelligent and granular policies for BYOD management and in providing additional layers of protection to mobile deployments.”
According to Juniper’s Trusted Mobility Index, first released in 2012, many employees claim to circumvent their employers’ official mobile device policies, with nearly half of all respondents who use their personal device for work (41 percent) doing so without permission from their company.
“More needs to be done to help IT embrace BYOD by both enabling users to work everywhere, anytime on any device, while keeping the network secure. Integrating and linking VPN, NAC and MDM solutions reduces complexity, functional silos and provides a better BYOD experience for both IT and end-users,” Tamir Hardof, senior director of security product marketing for Juniper Networks, said in a statement. “By working together with our partners, Juniper Networks can simplify the user experience and provide IT peace of mind that they are not compromising security, privacy or control.”