Worldwide virtual network services provider iPass is reinforcing security measures for remote enterprise workers with its new Endpoint Policy Management (EPM) system.
The service, launched in Hong Kong last week, is supposed to help a company's network administrator quickly bring its remote and mobile devices into effective compliance with corporate software policies as soon as the company's users connect to the internet.
'Before you even get to the network, we need to secure the end-point device - the corporate notebook or PDA,' said Steve Terry, iPass Asia-Pacific managing director.
'What EPM will do is check any device that wants to connect to your network to see if it conforms to company policy. If the company says that a certain application is not allowed, it will be erased before the device is allowed to connect. If the virus signatures are not the latest, they will be downloaded and installed before the machine can connect.'
California-based iPass is providing the service through its unified network of hundreds of dial-up, wireless and broadband providers in more than 150 countries.
Mr Terry said the biggest problem with enterprise security was that administrators had been limited in implementing a rock-solid policy for machines attached to the network in the main office. Remote workers, meanwhile, had been known to use corporate mobile devices for personal correspondence, online games, and peer-to-peer downloading of music or video.