Dell tackles remote workforce challenges

Dell has announced updates to the SonicWALL Secure Mobile Access (SMA) operating system (OS) that provide remote workers using smartphones, tablets or laptops – managed or unmanaged – with policy-enforced SSL VPN access to mission-critical applications, data and resources.
The new Dell SonicWALL SMA 11.4 gives organisations the power to easily provision secure mobile access on a global scale, regardless of data type, device used and/or remote worker location, with a new turnkey approach that ensures secure access of multiple concurrent users. For users in highly regulated industries such as government, financial and health care, the SonicWALL SMA portfolio has new capabilities to ensure security compliance with the latest industry and government regulations.
This new SonicWALL SMA 11.4 reinforces the commitment Dell Security has made to helping organisations keep their rapidly growing mobile workforces productive, without skimping on security.
According to the recently issued 2016 Dell Security Annual Threat Report, malware for the Android ecosystem continues to rise, putting a majority of all smartphones at risk.  Not only has Android-specific ransomware gained popularity throughout the year, but Android malware writers continue to be on the fast track to finding creative ways to evade detection and analysis.
With the number of both corporate-issued and personal devices used by employees to access corporate network assets, this alarming trend in Android malware attacks has organisations grappling with how to provide secure access to company applications, data and resources, from any device, without compromising the security of the network.
The Dell SonicWALL Secure Mobile Access portfolio contains patented technology designed to detect these malware infected and fake mobile apps, which allows IT administrators to safely extend their remote service to both the Android and IOS mobile Platforms.
SMA allows administrators to quickly provision secure access and role-based privileges to authorised remote workers, contractors, vendors and temps so they get fast, easy access to approved corporate asset resources to be productive. In turn, organisations become empowered to institute a bullet-proof access policy to protect their corporate networks and data from rogue access and malware.
According to a recent Forrester report, the digital worker requires access to sensitive data at all times of the day and week from any location or device. A full 52% of global information workers have access to customer data (for example names, contact information, or credit card data) regardless of whether or not they need to use it for work. Securing this access is the only way to improve engagement without risking customer trust.
This newest Dell SonicWALL SMA 11.4 ensures secure access across all key operating systems and mobile devices, including Windows, iOS, Mac OSX, Android, Kindle Fire, Linux and Chrome OS. The solution increases mobile and remote-worker productivity, protects data from threats, and integrates with industry-leading mobile management solutions to provide the most secure end-to-end mobile management and security solution for bring-your-own, choose-your-own and managed devices.
Key functionality updates to this newest version include:
* Global Traffic Optimiser (GTO) – provides a turnkey approach to delivering massive global scalability of concurrent geography-balanced users, while continuing to maintain secure access. This allows organisations to better provide business continuity from their secure access service as they face an ever-growing workforce and company expansion to different locations, both within country and globally.
* Regulatory Compliance – ensures security compliance with the most stringent industry and government regulations, such as the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) and Suite B cipher support.  This is crucial for users in highly regulated organisations (government, financial, health care, etc.) to maintain compliance.
* Management API – provides customers and third parties access to the SonicWALL SMA API. This enables enhanced workflow, orchestration and automation to improve operational processes for increased productivity and reduced costs.
* Enhanced Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 2.0 support – provides a positive end-user experience by allowing Single Sign-On (SSO) so users don’t have to sign on individually to SaaS applications.
Additional noteworthy enhancements made recently to the Dell SonicWALL SMA Series include:
* Centralised Management System (CMS) – provides overarching SMA management and monitoring, as well as dynamic allocation of licenses to nodes that have the demand, which reduces the organisation’s TCO and produces superior business continuity
* HTML5 Clients and Proxies – allow users to run all applications within a single browser window, making connections to resources very easy, and with zero-day support
Personal Device Authorisation – protects users’ rights for their personal data on their own personal devices when used in corporate networks.
Patrick Sweeney, vice president: product management and marketing of Dell Security, says: “With so many mobile devices being brought into the workplace by a growing remote workforce, both employer-issued and personally owned, data and applications are intermingling and putting organisations at an increased risk of a serious security breach.
“The Dell SonicWALL Secure Mobile Access (SMA) portfolio addresses the need for organizations to quickly minimise the window of exposure for remote and mobile workers before an attacker can potentially cripple the organization by gaining access to corporate data either in-flight or on the mobile device itself.
“Dell SonicWALL SMA 11.4 provides our customers with completely secure mobile access to any data type, through any device, to any authorized users as dictated by their IT administrators.”