Aruba provides secure wireless connectivity to Norwegian Government employees

(02/06/2008)

Aruba Networks has announced that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the Norwegian Government has commenced deployment of Aruba wireless LANs at its embassies and offices worldwide. 60 embassies and offices will be deployed this year, and all 109 embassies will be completed by mid 2009.

The network will offer secure wireless connectivity to employees, and extend the secure network to public areas of the embassies to support the introduction of multi-media biometric terminals. The solution will also offer guest access within the embassies, MFA’s campus in Oslo, and an all-wireless workplace within MFA’s education center in Oslo. The network is being provided by authorised Aruba integrator, Intelecom.

“We selected Aruba as the standard for our wireless deployments because it provided the security, scalability and simplicity of deployment needed for a worldwide network,” said Glenn Jone Østebø, senior technical advisor at MFA. “Our embassy networks must be highly secure, both within the remote facilities and over the long-haul connections to Oslo. The biometric terminals we use for passports and visas are in public locations, but Aruba’s client-to-core security makes the wireless terminals more secure than devices on typical wired networks. Even with these sophisticated capabilities the solution is simple and cost-effective to deploy.”

Beyond the embassy networks, MFA is deploying Aruba’s Remote Access Point (RAP) technology at the homes of key staff. Targeted at organisations with mobile workers, RAP software is loaded into a standard Aruba access point and offers a truly instant-on, no set-up connectivity solution with the security of a VPN but no client software to manage.

“We extend MFA’s secure wireless network into residences to allow employees to work securely away from the office, while offering a ‘family user SSID’ so that family members can benefit from a secure connection for Internet access,” continued Østebø.

Aruba’s unified mobility networks securely deliver the enterprise network to users by integrating adaptive wireless LANs, identity-based security, application continuity services, and multi-vendor network management into a cohesive, high-performance system. Adaptive wireless LANs deliver follow-me connectivity to roaming users, and support standard Wi-Fi clients such as Intel Centrino. Aruba’s identity-based security associates policies with users instead of ports, delivering follow-me security that provides expanded mobility for users without compromising security.

“Enterprises like MFA that have remote sites need a variety of solutions to address mobility, access, and security requirements,” said Andreas Ferm, Aruba’s Nordics territory manager . “Aruba’s centralised architecture simplifies the management and support of remote sites, while enforcing security policies for all users regardless of the sites to which they roam. The RAP software offers a take-along connectivity solution that securely delivers the enterprise network anywhere a user travels while always enforcing established security policies.”

Related topics:  Authentication and identity management   Eye biometrics   Fingerprint biometrics   Mobile and Wireless Security   Network Security 

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