Aruba Wireless Networks (Aruba) announced that SAP America, the U.S. subsidiary of SAP AG, has standardized on its grid architecture and new wired and wireless grid products to provide secure wired and wireless Internet Cafe service at SAP offices around the country.
Aruba’s grid controllers are the first complete solution specifically designed for interior network security ” whether wired or wireless. Aruba’s grid products were developed to address new interior network threats caused by the emergence of wireless technology and mobility. With these products, SAP can now centralize all essential security functions such as encryption, authentication, identity management and policy-based access controls within a single, high performance system that secures all traffic regardless of user access to the network.
In addition, SAP can also create different security zones based on each user’s identity. This frees SAP from having to deploy and manage separate firewalls and other discrete security appliances in every wiring closet.
Once users are identified, powerful user security policies can be applied to all traffic for the duration of each session, following users wherever they go. Granular access controls allow SAP, for example, to grant network access to guests from conference rooms but not from other locations or only for certain times of the day. All SAP users can now securely collaborate using the same infrastructure whether they are accessing the network using wired or wireless connections.
“Wireless technology and the need for mobility are changing the face of network security forever,” said John Harford, director of Network Services, SAP America. “Corporations everywhere must deal with the fact that there is no such thing as a trusted network and understand how to implement levels of trust among a widely diverse base of users and devices. With Aruba’s grid architecture and products, SAP can now easily and with more flexibility create different security zones for all types of users and users groups.”
SAP is initially deploying Aruba grid points in Newtown Square, PA, and also plans to rollout Aruba grid controllers in each of its regional and branch offices locations through the United States.
Before Aruba’s grid controller system, corporations have been unable to enforce wired and wireless access controls on a per user basis. In turn, enterprises have been forced to quarantine physical ports or different users groups on a separate network or VLAN. And as users become mobile, corporations today are unable to effectively enforce and scale security policies or have these policies follow each user. SAP is using Aruba’s grid controller system to solve these problems.
In addition to securing open wired ports, SAP is using Aruba grid controllers to protect against unauthorized wireless access points, suppression of ad hoc networking and classification of interfering or neighboring APs.
Aruba’s grid controller will enable SAP to uniquely inspect packets, redirect traffic and follow suspect sessions such as POP3, SMTP, FTP or HTTP, commonly used to transmit viruses. With Aruba’s grid controller system, these sessions can now be automatically diverted to anti-virus systems before entering the network.
These capabilities are also used to redirect client traffic to best-of-breed remediation systems that ensure end points are up to date with the latest software security patches, registry settings and other important security policies before stations are granted access to the network.
By using Aruba’s grid architecture to centralize security policy enforcement, SAP eliminates the requirement, time and cost, to deploy discrete in-line security appliances everywhere to protect against such problems.