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Thu, March 31, 2011

Network Security in the Age of Any Computing

By Mike Rothman

We all know of the inherent challenges that mobile devices and the need to connect to anything from anywhere present to security professionals. We’ve done some research on how to start securing those mobile devices, and now we have continued broadening that research with a look to a network-centric perspective on these issues. Let’s set the stage for this paper:

Everyone loves their iDevices and Androids. The computing power that millions now carry in their pockets would have required a raised floor and a large room full of big iron just 25 years ago. But that’s not the only impact we see from this wave of consumerization, the influx of consumer devices requiring access to corporate networks. Whatever control you thought you had over the devices in the IT environment is gone. End users pick their devices and demand access to critical information within the enterprise. Whether you like it or not.

And that’s not all. We also have demands for unfettered access from anywhere in the world at any time of day. And though smart phones are the most visible devices, there are more. We have the ongoing tablet computing invasion (iPad for the win!); and a new generation of workers who demand the ability to choose their computers, mobile devices, and applications. Even better, you aren’t in a position to dictate much of anything moving forward. It’s a great time to be a security professional, right?

In this paper, we focus on the network architectures and technologies that can help you protect critical corporate data given that you are required to provide users with access to critical and sensitive information on any device, from anywhere, at any time.

A special thanks to ForeScout for sponsoring the research.

Download: Network Security in the Age of Any Computing: Risks and Options to Control Mobile, Wireless, and Endpoint Devices

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Securosis_NetworkSecurityMobileDevices_FINAL.pdf [453KB]

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