Microsoft buys into SSL VPN market

Stuart Corner
Friday, 19 May 2006 03:49

IT Industry - Deals

Microsoft buys into SSL VPN market
See also: Aventail extends SSL VPN security to Mac and Linux

Microsoft is getting into the burgeoning secure sockets layer virtual private networks (SSL VPN) software market by announcing it intends to acquire Whale Communications, a provider of SSL VPN and other remote access security products. 

Microsoft says the acquisition will give its customers a broader range of choices for providing secure access from more locations and devices. "Our customers are faced with balancing the need to protect their data and network infrastructure with the connectivity needs of an increasingly mobile work force," said Ted Kummert, corporate vice president of the Security, Access and Solutions Division at Microsoft."

According to Microsoft, Whale is a pioneer in Windows-based SSL VPN and Web application firewalls which it says offer complementary SSL VPN and application-layer filtering capabilities to Microsoft's existing secure access offerings built around its Windows Server and Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA Server)

"Together, these technologies offer remote workers simplified access from more locations and a broader range of managed and unmanaged devices, including PCs, Internet kiosks and mobile devices. When used with Windows services such as Active Directory, the solution enables IT administrators to better control and enforce information usage guidelines through customised policies based on device, user, application or other business criteria," said Roger Pilc, CEO of Whale Communications.

SSL is rapidly gaining favour over the more established IP-SEC as means of securing remote access to corporate IT systems. A just-released survey from Infonetics Research found 80 percent of respondents who were deploying SSL VPNs said they had chosen if over IP-SEC because of the increased security it offers. Infonetics forecasts its share of the remote access security market to rise from 21 percent today to 33 percent by 2008.

"SSL allows companies to limit user access to a few specific applications or data sources, and does so at the application layer, which is an improvement in security over IPSec," said Jeff Wilson, principal analyst for VPNs and security at Infonetics Research. "SSL also decreases network downtime, because it can be set up quickly and easily as a disaster recovery solution when other forms of access fail. SSL products that can act as a full replacement for IPSec remote access are available now, and mainstream IT departments now realize they can use SSL for any scenario that currently uses IPSec."

The study, "User Plans for VPN Products and Services, North American Vertical Markets 2006," is based on interviews with network managers at 250 small, medium, and large organizations from 5 vertical markets: education, federal government, finance, healthcare, and retail.

Infonetics listed the top six players in the market as being Check Point, Cisco, Juniper, Nortel, SonicWALL, and WatchGuard.