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BYOD and Open Wi-Fi

Ensuring Security, Enforcing Policies

The IT landscape has changed from businesses issuing managed devices to a mix of both business-provided and personally owned devices (bring your own device or “BYOD”). The shift to BYOD has been driven by the ubiquity of consumer electronics and businesses accommodating employee requests to use their personal devices for work. The bottom line for businesses has also improved from BYOD increasing employee productivity and reducing overhead costs to track and manage company-owned devices.

Network administrators need a solution that can handle all devices—whether business-managed or personal.

The Need for Open Wi-Fi

In addition to BYOD deployments increasing, the way devices connect to the network is also in a state of transition from ethernet to Wi-Fi. With wireless connectivity a standard capability in laptops, cell phones, tablets and other devices, effectively deploying BYOD requires businesses to provide open Wi-Fi access for these personal devices.

For network administrators to support both BYOD and open Wi-Fi, they need a solution that can handle all devices—whether business-managed or personal—that connect to both the wired and wireless network.

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Supporting BYOD and Open Wi-Fi

NG Firewall makes it simple for businesses to support BYOD and open Wi-Fi by identifying all users through a Captive Portal and if available, Directory Connector. Once identified, NG Firewall ensures security and enforces policies so each individual user has the right access to network resources. Unidentified users can be put into a generic user group to limit their network access, preventing any security risks or bandwidth impacts they would otherwise have on the network. This ensures employees can freely use their personal devices they are comfortable with on a secure, reliable business network.

NG Firewall ensures security and enforces policies so each individual user has the right access to network resources.

Protecting the Endpoint

Along with protecting the network, protection at the endpoint is important as devices can be brought on-site with previous malware and other inherent risks like USB file transfers, rootkit/jailbreaking vulnerabilities, and personal information on the device. To handle the endpoint requires clear rules of engagement and communication across stakeholders in IT, legal and finance. Once a strategy is in place, businesses can comfortably deploy BYOD and open Wi-Fi access knowing the network is secure and the business stakeholders are ready.