Virtual Private Networks for Smartphones

Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology, a means of providing more secure communications on a network, has become a very common method of connecting to a company's resources by travelling employees. With smartphones, the basic principle is the same as in personal computers. Cisco, Aventail, Blue Fire Security, NCP and other networking companies are working on expanding this technology for smartphones.

The AnyConnect VPN client offered by Cisco comes with many control options for administrators. It can detect the location of the user and enforce security policies configured by the administrator for that connection. Administrators will also have control over the applications; they can select which application will communicate to the network, as well as where and when. If an employee has been terminated, the administrator can revoked the user's access in order to protect the confidential data of the company. If the physical device is lost, then the access of that device can be revoked, so that a hacker cannot gain information. This solution offers several benefits:

• It offers low overhead and a cost-effective solution.
• Device management is in the hands of the administrator, who can control the applications, the access level and the security policies on the PDA or smartphone.
• It is compatible with the VPN of company.
• Mobile users do not have to re-authenticate themselves when changing a network, such as from one hotspot to another.

Some issues present a couple hurdles. The encrypting and encapsulation of VPN packets for transferring them securely over the Internet has a lot of overhead, and this means that VPN connections are slower than non-VPN connections.

Another issue is related to security protocols. Smartphones are not high-speed processing devices and are, therefore, not able to support some security protocols, which could raise compatibility problems with the company's network.

References

• Extending Your VPN to smartphone users  (Processor.com)
• Cisco develops VPN Client (PC World)
• Using a Microsoft smartphone to connect to a corporate VPN (Tech Republic)

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