OK 2016 Monkey, Whatcha Got?

The Year of the (Fire) Monkey is upon us and the curious, playful, smart, opportunistic and sometimes mischievous character could influence events throughout 2016. Whether you were born under the symbol or not, Monkeys thrive on challenges and 2016 is sure to bring some obstacles during the year.

2015 (Year of the Sheep) brought us a rash of high profile breaches, a bunch of new IoT devices and wearables, continued, bigger clouds and innovative attacks on vulnerable infrastructures along with the continuous deluge of big data. This is sure to continue as our digital, software-defined lives connect and intersect with the things around us. Organizations will need to extend their risk management focus to areas outside their control like the cloud and social channels but also consider the human element in all this. The new threats and heightened risk may put some companies in peril due to the lack of knowledgeable security IT personnel available.

Mobility, both the state of being and the devices we use, will continue to grow and be an immense enabler and/or inhibitor for organizations. Mobile is not only the new shiny phone you got over the holidays but also all the IoT gadgets looking for a place in our home, offices and bodies…along with how we interact with them as humans. Cutting the cord will mean more than subscribing to some streaming media service but the way of the wireless life. You are now the device, controller and data generator. With that, security challenges like authentication, privacy, malware/data protection, compliance and the management of those services will be paramount. 

And as our lives – personal and professional – continue to be chronicled on the internet, thieves, nation states and activists will continue to be one step ahead probing data and looking for that golden slab of info. Making money, causing disruptions or outright take downs through online attacks are big motivations for those seeking notoriety or simply a big score. But it’s not always from the crook or spy half a globe away. Insider threats, malicious or not, have made the traditional perimeter almost useless.

So while trends like cloud, mobility, IoT and big data will consume IT departments, securing those trends and how they map to business objectives will be the monkey on organizations back for 2016. Let’s try to be intelligent, dignified, clever, optimistic, confident, agile and curious about our challenges or the arrogant, deceptive, reckless and manipulative bad guys will get the best of us.

The 2016 Monkey is here, and we’ll need to handle it with grace.

ps

Related:

• Chinese New Year 2016: Facts, Dates, And Ancient Traditions
• 5 information security trends that will dominate 2016
• Defending Data Report 2015 Infographic
• Cybersecurity Skills Gap Making Companies Vulnerable To Major Attacks
• Samsung Builds Smart Home Tech into Its 2016 TVs
• The weird and wacky of 2015: strange security and privacy stories

Technorati Tags: 2016,f5,mobility,iot,security,silva,monkey

This article originally appeared 1-7-16 on F5.com

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Apps Driving Attention

The mobile platform, meaning tablets and smartphones, now account for 60% of total digital media time spent according to comScore. This is a 10 point jump from 50% just a year ago. On top of that, mobile apps accounted for 51% of all digital media time spent in May 2014. Many of the content categories like radio, photos and maps are becoming almost exclusively mobile. Digital radio and photos both generate 96% of their engagement from mobile while maps and instant messaging get 90% of interaction from mobile devices.

You might be wondering, like I did, where do social networks come in since it seem like almost everyone updates their social feeds through mobile. Social is actually the #1 category for overall digital engagement taking about 20% of overall digital time spent and gets 71% of it's activity from mobile. It, social media engagement on mobile, has grown 55% over the last year and has accounted for 31% of all growth of internet engagements.

So who is driving the mobile app explosion? Teenagers. About 60% of 12 to 17 year olds had a smartphone in 2013, topping even the 45+ crowd for smartphone ownership, according to Arbitron and Edison Research. The app money makers are not the initial charge for the program but all the in-app purchases along with the ads attached to the app.

Mobile is clearly the new way we consume digital content and continues to grow. We are also interacting with specific apps rather than browsing and those apps are growing at an amazing pace. Today's infrastructure needs to be even more flexible, intelligent and resilient to handle the surge. And ultimately, the apps and the content/experience they provide need to be highly available and delivered quickly and securely to the person...just like any other typical application.

ps

Related:

• Major Mobile Milestones in May: Apps Now Drive Half of All Time Spent on Digital
• Who's driving the mobile app economy? Our kids
• Invasion of Privacy - Mobile App Infographic Style
• The Applications of Our Lives
• What's in Your Smartphone?

Technorati Tags: mobile,apps,tablet,smartphone,social media,humans,society,silva,security

 

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Dreaming of Work

Say What?!?  Instead of counting sheep, I can count how many emails I need to answer in the morning?  Sure can…at least according to a recent Good Technology survey that indicates that we are working more – an average of 7 hours more per week - but it’s on our own schedule.  More than 80% of working adults in the U.S. continue to work when they have left the office adding another 30 work hours per month.  Most say it’s to stay organized, but others feel they must due to customer needs and the fact that workers find it hard to switch to off work mode when they get home.  Half of us even take the mobile device to bed and answer emails under the covers.  Amazingly, over half of those surveyed also noted that there was no argument from the significant other about the additional home-work.  The mix of personal and work lives are blurring even more.

Our mobile, always-on lifestyle is appreciated by both organizations and workers alike.  Organizations see increased productivity while workers like the freedom to get their work done wherever and whenever.  Of course, data security is always paramount and John Herrema, Good’s SVP of Corporate Strategy said, “When it comes to supporting a ‘bring your own device’ environment, it’s important to take an approach that ensures data security without compromising the employee's privacy or personal experiences. By shifting their management focus from 'devices' to 'apps' and 'data', enterprises can allow employees to get work done on the go whenever they want, and still keep personal information private, separate and safe.”

The study also revealed:

• 68 percent of people check their work emails before 8 a.m.
• The average American first checks their phone around 7:09 a.m.
• 50 percent check their work email while still in bed
• The work day is growing – 40 percent still do work email after 10 p.m.
• 69 percent will not go to sleep without checking their work email
• 57 percent check work emails on family outings
• 38 percent routinely check work emails while at the dinner table

…and the Infographic:

 

ps

References:

• Good Technology Survey Reveals Americans are Working More, but on their Own Schedule
• 80 Percent Of Americans Spend An Extra Day A Week Working After Hours, New Survey Says
• Smartphones Add Hours to the Work Week
• 80% of Americans work an extra 30 hours a month on their own time
• Device-free Days Off: 3 Tips for Powering Down
• Work and personal life blend as people stay in the loop while on the go
• Will BYOL Cripple BYOD?
• What’s in Your Smartphone?
• Freedom vs. Control
• BYOD–The Hottest Trend or Just the Hottest Term

Technorati Tags: F5, smartphone, integration, byod, Pete Silva, security, business, education, technology, application delivery,ipad,mobile device, context-aware,android, iPhone, web, internet, security

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Ode to FirePass

A decade ago, remote VPN access was a relatively new concept for businesses; it was available only to a select few who truly needed it, and it was usually over a dial-up connection. Vendors like Cisco, Check Point, and Microsoft started to develop VPN solutions using IPsec, one of the first transport layer security protocols, and RADIUS Server. At first organizations had to launch the modem and enter the pertinent information, but soon client software was offered as a package. This client software had to be installed, configured, and managed on the user’s computer. As high-speed broadband became a household norm and SSL/TLS matured, the SSL VPN arrived, allowing secure connections via a browser-based environment. Client pre-installation and management hassles were eliminated; rather the masses now had secure access to corporate resources with just a few browser components and an appliance in the data center.

These early SSL VPNs, like the first release of F5’s FirePass, offered endpoint checks and multiple modes of access depending on user needs. At the time, most SSL VPNs were limited in areas like overall performance, logins per second, concurrent sessions/users, and in some cases, throughput. Organizations that offered VPN extended it to executives, frequent travelers, and IT staff, and it was designed to provide separated access for corporate employees, partners, and contractors over the web portal. But these organizations were beginning to explore company-wide access since most employees still worked on-site. 

Today, almost all employees have multiple devices, including smartphones, and most companies offer some sort of corporate VPN access. By 2015, 37.2 percent of the worldwide workforce will be remote and therefore mobile—that’s 1.3 billion people. Content is richer, phones are faster, and bandwidth is available—at least via broadband to the home. Devices need to be authenticated and securely connected to corporate assets, making a high-performance Application Delivery Controller (ADC) with unified secure access a necessity. As FirePass is retired, organizations will have two ADC options with which to replace it: F5 BIG-IP Edge Gateway, a standalone appliance, and BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM), a module that can be added to BIG-IP LTM devices. Both products are more than just SSL VPNs—they’re the central policy control points that are critical to managing dynamic data center environments.

A Little History
F5’s first foray into the SSL VPN realm was with its 2003 purchase of uRoam and its flagship product, FirePass. Although still small, Infonetics Research predicted that the SSL VPN market will swell from around $25 million [in 2002] to $1 billion by 2005/6 and the old meta Group forecasted that SSL-based technology would be the dominant method for remote access, with 80 percent of users utilizing SSL by 2005/6. They were right—SSL VPN did take off. 

Using technology already present in web browsers, SSL VPNs allowed any user from any browser to type in a URL and gain secure remote access to corporate resources. There was no full client to install—just a few browser control components or add-on to facilitate host checks and often, SSL-tunnel creation. Administrators could inspect the requesting computer to ensure it achieved certain levels of security, such as antivirus software, a firewall, and client certificates. Like today, there were multiple methods to gain encrypted access. There was (and still is) the full layer-3 network access connection; a port forwarding or application tunnel–type connection; or simply portal web access through a reverse proxy.

SSL VPNs Mature
With more enterprises deploying SSL VPNs, the market grew and FirePass proved to be an outstanding solution. Over the years, FirePass has lead the market with industry firsts like the Visual Policy Editor, VMware View support, group policy support, an SSL client that supported QoS (quality of service) and acceleration, and integrated support with third-party security solutions. Every year from 2007 through 2010, FirePass was an SC Magazine Reader Trust finalist for Best SSL VPN.

As predicted, SSL VPN took off in businesses; but few could have imagined how connected the world would really become. There are new types of tablet devices and powerful mobile devices, all growing at accelerated rates. And today, it’s not just corporate laptops that request access, but personal smartphones, tablets, home computers, televisions, and many other new devices that will have an operating system and IP address.
As the market has grown, the need for scalability, flexibility, and access speed became more apparent. In response, F5 began including the FirePass SSL VPN functionality in the BIG-IP system of Application Delivery Controllers, specifically, BIG-IP Edge Gateway and BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM). Each a unified access solution, BIG-IP Edge Gateway and BIG-IP APM are scalable, secure, and agile controllers that can handle all access needs, whether remote, wireless, mobile, or LAN. 

The secure access reigns of FirePass have been passed to the BIG-IP system; by the end of 2012, FirePass will no longer be available for sale. For organizations that have a FirePass SSL VPN, F5 will still offer support for it for several years. However those organizations are encouraged to test BIG-IP Edge Gateway or BIG-IP APM.

Unified Access Today
The accelerated advancement of the mobile and remote workforce is driving the need to support tens of thousands concurrent users. The bursting growth of Internet traffic and the demand for new services and rich media content can place extensive stress on networks, resulting in access latency and packet loss. With this demand, the ability of infrastructure to scale with the influx of traffic is essential. As business policies change over time, flexibility within the infrastructure gives IT the agility needed to keep pace with access demands while the security threats and application requirements are constantly evolving.  Organizations need a high-performance ADC to be the strategic point of control between users and applications. This ADC must understand both the applications it delivers and the contextual nature of the users it serves. 

BIG-IP Access Policy Manager
BIG-IP APM is a flexible, high-performance access and security add-on module for either the physical or virtual edition of BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). BIG-IP APM can help organizations consolidate remote access infrastructure by providing unified global access to business-critical applications and networks. By converging and consolidating remote access, LAN access, and wireless connections within a single management interface, and providing easy-to-manage access policies, BIG-IP APM can help free up valuable IT resources and scale cost-effectively. BIG-IP APM protects public-facing applications by providing policy-based, context-aware access to users while consolidating access infrastructure. 

BIG-IP Edge Gateway
BIG-IP Edge Gateway is a standalone appliance that provides all the benefits of BIG-IP APM—SSL VPN remote access security—plus application acceleration and WAN optimization services at the edge of the network—all in one efficient, scalable, and cost-effective solution. 

BIG-IP Edge Gateway is designed to meet current and future IT demands, and can scale up to 60,000 concurrent users on a single box. It can accommodate all converged access needs, and on a single platform, organizations can manage remote access, LAN access, and wireless access by creating unique policies for each. BIG-IP Edge Gateway is the only ADC with remote access, acceleration, and optimization services built in. To address high latency links, technologies like intelligent caching, WAN optimization, compression, data deduplication, and application-specific optimization ensure the user is experiencing the best possible performance, 2 to 10 times faster than legacy SSL VPNs.  BIG-IP Edge Gateway gives organizations unprecedented flexibility and agility to consolidate all their secure access methods on a single device. 

FirePass SSL VPN Migration
A typical F5 customer might have deployed FirePass a few years ago to support RDP virtual desktops, endpoint host checks, and employee home computers, and to begin the transition from legacy IPsec VPNs. As a global workforce evolved with their smartphones and tablets, so did IT's desire to consolidate their secure access solutions. Many organizations have upgraded their FirePass controller functionality to a single BIG-IP appliance.
Migrating any system can be a challenge, especially when it is a critical piece of the infrastructure that global users rely on. Migrating security devices, particularly remote access solutions, can be even more daunting since policies and settings are often based on an identity and access management framework. Intranet web applications, network access settings, basic device configurations, certificates, logs, statistics, and many other settings often need to be configured on the new controller.

FirePass can make migrating to BIG-IP Edge Gateway or BIG-IP APM a smooth, fast process. The FirePass Configuration Export Tool, available as a hotfix (HF-359012-1) for FirePass v6.1 and v7, exports configurations into XML files. Device management, network access, portal access, and user information can also all be exported to an XML file. Special settings like master groups, IP address pools, packet filter rules, VLANS, DNS, hosts, drive mappings, policy checks, and caching and compression are saved so an administrator can properly configure the new security device.  It’s critical that important configuration settings are mapped properly to the new controller, and with the FirePass Configuration Export Tool, administrators can deploy the existing FirePass configurations to a new BIG-IP Edge Gateway device or BIG-IP APM module.  A migration guide will be available shortly.  

SSL VPNs like FirePass have helped pave the way for easy, ubiquitous remote access to sensitive corporate resources. As the needs of the corporate enterprise change, so must the surrounding technology tasked with facilitating IT initiates. The massive growth of the mobile workforce and their devices, along with the need to secure and optimize the delivery of rich content, requires a controller that is specifically developed for application delivery.  Both BIG-IP Edge Gateway and BIG-IP APM offer all the SSL VPN functionality found in FirePass, but on the BIG-IP platform. 

ps

Resources:

• 2011 Gartner Magic Quadrant for SSL VPNs
• F5 Positioned in Leaders Quadrant of SSL VPN Magic Quadrant
• SOL13366 - End of Sale Notice for FirePass
• SOL4156 - FirePass software support policy
• Secure Access with the BIG-IP System | (whitepaper)
• FirePass to BIG-IP APM Migration Service
• F5 FirePass to BIG-IP APM Migration Datasheet
• FirePass Wiki Home
• Audio Tech Brief - Secure iPhone Access to Corporate Web Applications
• In 5 Minutes or Less - F5 FirePass v7 Endpoint Security
• Pete Silva Demonstrates the FirePass SSL-VPN

Technorati Tags: F5, infrastructure 2.0, integration, cloud connect, Pete Silva, security, business, education, technology, application delivery, intercloud, cloud, context-aware, infrastructure 2.0, automation, web, internet

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Lost Your Balance? Drop The Load and Deliver!

It’s not named dough, melted cheese, mushrooms and pepperoni balancing.  Its called Pizza Delivery.  The user makes a request either over the phone or on-line with all the context of the ingredients and specifics of the request.  The Pizza Parlor then confirms the delivery location, gets to work and tries to deliver it to the destination as fast as they can.  The request arrives, both parties validate the order sometimes with a two-person handshake and the user consumes the content that was delivered.  Somewhat similar but much faster is what happens when a user makes a request from a web application.  They type in the location they want to go to, the ADC considers such contextual information like user, IP address, browser type, location and other variables to then deliver the specific content that is being requested – as fast as possible.  It’s not about load balancing an application, it’s about Application Delivery.

If you’ve lost your balance, then your equilibrium might be off and that is not a good thing.  You might have blurred vision, trouble hearing, dizziness and headaches and your decision making process could be off kilter.  You are slow to react, misunderstand requests, and give someone something they didn’t ask for or something different than what they asked for.  You are unable to take requests, process the information load and deliver an answer. 

Load balancing an application is no longer sufficient to ensure that the right users are receiving the right information at the right time, quickly, efficiently and securely.  Load balancing almost seems like an afterthought, or late in the process of delivering an application. You need to take into context the various variables of the user request and deliver that application based on the contextual information.  We use contextual information all the time to make our little daily decisions.  Which jacket to wear?  Well, what’s the temperature; is it raining; what am I doing; what’s the forecast; does it have pockets; does it have a hood; is it zipper or pull over and so forth.  Of course all this happens in an instant and we select what is needed.  You can’t make application delivery decisions simply based on ‘next in line,’ those judgments need to consider all the available information to make an informed application delivery decision.

ps

Resources:

• All “50 Ways” to use your BIG-IP system entries
• 50 Ways to Use Your BIG-IP: Availability
• 50 Ways to Use Your BIG-IP: Availability Presentation
• Availability resources on DevCentral
• Availability Solutions on F5.com
• Follow #50waystousebigip on Twitter

Technorati Tags: F5,F5 News,Interop,NOC,IPv6,BIG-IP,application delivery,network,Pete Silva, event, #50waystousebigip,50 Ways,availability,BIG-IP

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The New Wallet: Is it Dumb to Carry a Smartphone?

When I was a teenager, I used to have one of those cool nylon surfer wallets with the Velcro close, you remember those don’t ya?  While pumping diesel (had a VW Rabbit) one day at an old Gulf station, I left the wallet on top of the car and drove off.  Realizing that my wallet was not snug in the sun visor when I got home, I retraced my path and found it - parts of it - scattered all over Route 1.  Luckily, I got most of my belongings back but had that sickened feeling of almost losing my most precious possession at the time, my fake I……um, my driver’s license.  I then got a leather wallet and shoved so many things in there I could have been mistaken for George Costanza, not to mention the hole that evolved right at the bottom point of my back pocket.  Not liking the bump on my butt, I eventually moved to ‘money-clip’ type holders, you know those money holder things you carry in your front pocket.  I felt ‘safer’ knowing it was in my front pocket and I only carried the essentials that I needed, rather than the reams of receipts I’d have in my wallet.  When I was younger, I’d use tie clips, metal binder clips, and other things until I got a nice Harley-Davidson one which holds credit cards and clips currency.  I’d still feel sick if I lost it however.

Not having a wallet, purse, money clip or other currency container at all, may eventually be our new reality.  You see, our smartphones are starting to carry all that digital information for us and according to a recent CNNMoney article, our smartphones are becoming one of our most dangerous possessions.  We can do banking, make payments, transfer money, use the phone for loyalty card swipes along with credit card transactions.  At the same time, mobile users more vulnerable to phishing attacks, some banking apps for Android, iPhone expose sensitive info, Android Trojan Emerges In U.S. Download Sites and how IPv6: Smartphones compromise users' privacy.  We knew it would eventually happen but the crooks are now adapting to the explosive mobile growth, the rise of mobile banking and our never ending connection to the internet.  Don’t get me wrong, like many of you, I love having email, contacts, calendar and entertainment at my fingertips along with the convenience of having all my stuff with me; but the chances of losing much more greatly increase since you have the equivalent, or even more, of all your credit cards, personal and private information and other sensitive stuff right on your smartphone.  Sure there are backup programs but how many of you actually backup your computer on a weekly basis?  How many have wipe or lock software installed to destroy everything on the smartphone if it is stolen?  How many have tracking software if it is lost?  How many have your actual home address in the GPS navigator so the offender can find where you live and visit while you are away?  How many have sensitive corporate information stored on the smartphone since you use it for both personal and business use?  Now I’m starting to spook myself. 

Many people will willingly trade some personal info for personal convenience.  You might never give a total stranger your home address and phone number but if they add, ‘in exchange, we’ll give you this branded card and you’ll get 10% off every purchase,’ more than likely, we’ll turn that personal info over.  If you understand that every purchase will be scanned, sent to a database and used for marketing or as the merchant describes, to ‘provide you with the best service and offerings,’ then you might accept that.  If you accept and understand the risks of doing mobile banking, transferring money, making payments and carrying around your entire life on your mobile device….and take actions to mitigate those risks, like using encryption, backups, wipe/locate software, antivirus, OS updates and other mobile security precautions along with practicing the same discretion as you would with your home computer (like not clicking links from strangers) then you should stay relatively safe.  Unless, of course, you leave that digital wallet on the top of your vehicle and drive off.

ps

Resources

• Android Trojan Emerges In U.S. Download Sites
• Sophisticated New Android Trojan "Geinimi" Spreading in China
• Chinese crack down on 'money-sucker' Androids
• Your most dangerous possession? Your smartphone
• IPv6: Smartphones compromise users' privacy
• Mobile users more vulnerable to phishing attacks
• Report: Banking Apps for Android, iPhone Expose Sensitive Info
• Make Sure Your Smartphone Payments Are Secure
• F5 BIG-IP Edge Client App
• F5 BIG-IP Edge Portal App
• Securing iPhone and iPad Access to Corporate Web Applications – F5 Technical Brief
• Audio Tech Brief - Secure iPhone Access to Corporate Web Applications

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Technorati Tags: F5, banking, trojan, Pete Silva, security, business, education, technology, application delivery, ipad, cloud, context-aware, mobile, iPhone, web, internet, security, android, privacy, smartphone, 

iDo Declare: iPhone with BIG-IP

Who would have imagined back in 1973 when Martin Cooper/Motorola dialed the first portable cellular phone call, that one day we'd be booking airline tickets, paying bills, taking pictures, watching movies, getting directions, emailing and getting work done on a little device the size of a deck of cards.  As these 'cell-phones' have matured, they've also become an integral part of our lives on a daily basis.  No longer are they strictly for emergency situations when you need to get help, now they are attached to our hip with an accompanying ear apparatus as if we've evolved with new bodily appendages.  People have grown accustomed to being 'connected' everywhere. There have been mobile breakthroughs over the years, like having 3G/4G networks and Wi-Fi capability, but arguably one of the most talked about and coveted mobile devices in recent memory is the Apple iPhone.

Ever since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, it has changed the way people perceive and use mobile devices.  It's not just the tech-savvy that love the iPhone, it's Moms, Florists, Celebrities, Retailers and everyone in between that marvel at the useful ways iPhone can be used, and for their very own novel purpose.  There are literally hundreds of thousands of apps available for iPhone, from the silly and mundane to banking and business. Browsing the web is a breeze with the iPhone with the ability to view apps in both portrait and landscape modes.  The ability to zoom and 'pinch' with just your fingers made mobile browsing tolerable, even fun from an iPhone.  Shopping from your cell phone is now as common as ordering a cup of coffee - often at the same time!  iPhone developers are pushing the limits with augmented reality applications where you can point your iPhone into the sky and see the flight number, speed, destination and other such details as planes fly by.

When the iPhone was first introduced and Apple started promoting it as a business capable device, it was missing a few important features.  Many enterprises, and small businesses for that matter, use Microsoft products for their corporate software - Exchange for email, Word for documents, Excel for spreadsheets and PowerPoint for presentations.  Those were, as expected, not available on the iPhone.  As new generations of iPhones hit the market and iOS matured, things like iPhone Exchange ActiveSync became available and users could now configure their email to work with Exchange Server.  Other office apps like Documents-to-Go make it possible for iPhone users to not only to view Microsoft Word and Excel documents, but they were able to create and edit them too.  Today, there are business apps from Salesforce, SAP and Oracle along with business intelligence and HR apps. Companies can even lock down and locate a lost or stolen iPhone.

Business users are increasingly looking to take advantage of Apple iOS devices in the corporate environment, and as such IT organizations are looking for ways to allow access without compromising security, or risking loss of endpoint control.  IT departments who have been slow to accept the iPhone are now looking for a remote access solution to balance the need for mobile access and productivity with the ability to keep corporate resources secure.

The F5 BIG-IP Edge Portal app for iOS devices streamlines secure mobile access to corporate web applications that reside behind BIG-IP Access Policy Manager, BIG-IP Edge Gateway and FirePass SSL VPN.  Using the Edge Portal application, users can access internal web pages and web applications securely, while the new F5 BIG-IP Edge Client app offers complete network access connection to corporate resources from an iOS device; a complete VPN solution for both the iPhone and iPad.

The BIG-IP Edge Portal App allows users to access internal web applications securely and offers the following features:

• User name/password authentication
• Client certificate support
• Saving credentials and sessions
• SSO capability with BIG-IP APM for various corporate web applications
• Saving local bookmarks and favorites
• Accessing bookmarks with keywords
• Embedded web viewer
• Display of all file types supported by native Mobile Safari

Assuming an iPhone is a trusted device and/or network access from an iPhone/iPad is allowed, then the BIG-IP Edge Client app offers all the BIG-IP Edge Portal features listed above, plus the ability to create an encrypted, optimized SSL VPN tunnel to the corporate network.  BIG-IP Edge Client offers a complete network access connection to corporate resources from an iOS device.  With full VPN access, iPhone/iPad users can run applications such as RDP, SSH, Citrix, VMware View, VoIP/SIP, and other enterprise applications.  The BIG-IP Edge Client app offers additional features such as Smart Reconnect, which enhances mobility when there are network outages, when users roaming from one network to another (like going from a mobile to Wi-Fi connection), or when a device comes out of hibernate/standby mode. Split tunneling mode is also supported, allowing users to access the Internet and internal resources simultaneously.

BIG-IP Edge Client and Edge Portal work in tandem with BIG-IP Edge Gateway, BIG-IP APM and FirePass SSL VPN solutions to drive managed access to corporate resources and applications, and to centralize application access control for mobile users.  Enabling access to corporate resources is key to user productivity, which is central to F5’s dynamic services model that delivers on-demand IT.

ps

Resources

• F5 Announces Two BIG-IP Apps Now Available at the App Store
• F5 BIG-IP Edge Client App
• F5 BIG-IP Edge Portal App
• F5 BIG-IP Edge Client Users Guide
• iTunes App Store
• Securing iPhone and iPad Access to Corporate Web Applications – F5 Technical Brief
• Audio Tech Brief - Secure iPhone Access to Corporate Web Applications
• Is the iPhone Finally Ready for Business Use?
• iPhone in Business
• The next IT challenge: Mobile device management
• Use Your iPhone to See Where Planes are Headed

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Technorati Tags: F5, infrastructure 2.0, integration, cloud connect, Pete Silva, security, business, education, technology, application delivery, ipad, cloud, context-aware, infrastructure 2.0, iPhone, web, internet, security, hardware, audio, whitepaper, apple, iTunes