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Originally published at Internet.comPortWise is an application portal platform that allows both internal and external users to access only those corporate applications that they are authorized for via an encrypted access tunnel.
Users access the corporate PortWise Access Point servers (which can be mirrored for high availability) from their machines via LAN or Internet connections. Access to corporate applications can be facilitated directly through the Web browser of the user's PC (no additional client components are required for this type of access). Access to Web-based applications require no further software on the client PCs; while access to non-Web based applications is facilitated via an ActiveX or Java applet that is pushed to the user's machine (native access clients are also available for Windows, PocketPC, and Symbian).
When the user initially connects to a corporate access point, an end-point security scan is performed, ensuring that the user's device is compliant with the corporate security posture (contains designated firewall or anti-virus software, for example) before continuing. Built-in checks exist for this end-point scan; or the product can utilize third party tools. Once the device is identified as being in compliance, the user is authenticated via two factor (user name/password, and identification via mobile phone, pager, or Blackberry handheld) authentication. Third party authentication is also supported, including RSA, Vasco, Secure Computing and ActivCard; and supported authentication methods include PKI, biometrics, LDAP, AD, tokens, and more.
Having connected and authenticated, the platform then establishes an encrypted tunnel between the user and the corporate network, and presents to the user a portal of applications icons for which they have access based on administrator security policies. Such policies can include the examination of user, session, and device metrics; allowing, for example, access to a specific application from a specific user on one particular device; but not if they attempt to access from a different device.
Other features of the platform include Single Sign-On, where application credentials can be cached across sessions; auditing tools that capture metrics as to who accessed which applications and from where; and end-point clean up tools that erase activity traces-such as cookies, URL history, cached information, registry entries and downloadable components-at the end of a session.
In addition to the Access Client described above, primary components of the PortWise platform include the Access Points, which are the connection points for the end users (up to 32 pairs of Access Points are supported); the PortWise Administration Service, which is the Web based management platform; the PortWise Authentication Service and PortWise Mobile ID which provide mobile strong authentication services; and the PortWise Policy Server, which allows for the creation of object-based access control policies.
PortWise Enterprise Edition is available now as both a software platform and a Solaris 10-based appliance; pricing starts at $331 per concurrent user for the software platform, and $9,000 (25 concurrent users) with the appliance.
Contact PortWise for further information.Author: EITPlanet Staff
Read article at Internet.com site