Security Without Borders

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The lines are blurred today between consumer, workplace, employee and partners, believes Ross Fowler, vice president of borderless network architecture sales for Cisco.  While the concept of borderless networks was previously introduced by Cisco, a briefing on Monday during the RSA Conference centered on the company’s introduction of its Cisco AnyConect Secure Mobility solution, which offers security for mobile and fixed devices. Cisco sees the borderless architecture as a means to “enable business users to access information from any device and any location with a high degree of ease and security.”

Cisco AnyConect Secure Mobility is designed to help with mobile device management, especially important for today, claims Fowler, as 1.3 billion new mobile devices are anticipated to be moving into the network in the next three years.

According to Tom Gillis, vice president and general manager, security technology, for Cisco, the network plays a critical role in making it possible to span from one device to another, moving from laptop to mobile phone. “We have entered a world where computers act like phones and phones act like computers,” observes Gillis. “There are more people accessing more content from more places than ever before.” The new Cisco offering says Gillis offers consistent policy and consistent security.

Cisco Secure Borderless Network architecture, focuses on four anchors: enterprise endpoints (mobile or fixed), the Internet edge, the data center, and policy that is context- and location-aware. Included in the RSA announcement is the expansion of Cisco TrustSec. The new features include integrated device profiling and guest access services for 802.1X environments, enhanced 802.1X-based technologies, advanced end-to-end monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities, delivery of Security Group Tag (SGT), and SGT Exchange Protocol (SXP) technologies for Cisco Catalyst and Cisco Nexus switches.

Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility integrates functionality across the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client, the Cisco IronPort S-Series Web Security Appliance and the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance firewall. The next-generation remote access, advanced Web security and threat-intelligence capabilities of this solution helps allow enterprises to extend their corporate policy and controls to mobile users.

Both Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility and the enhanced Cisco TrustSec will be available in the second quarter of this year.