Securing Mobile Workspaces

The mobile workspace solution from Sipera Systems allows enterprises to extend the VoIP and unified communications functions of their IP PBX over the Internet to remote IP phones, soft phones and WiFi/dual-mode phones.

Unique VoIP/UC security challenges

The real challenge in making mobile workspaces a reality is security. Enterprises must provide security solutions that solve the following challenges when extending critical VoIP/UC services over the Internet:

• VoIP vulnerabilities and anomalies that put the network, services, and confidential data at risk must not be exposed.
• Privacy of confidential communication sent over the Internet must be preserved.
• Robust authentication of both phones and remote employees must be employed to ensure strong access control.
• Fine-grained policies must be enforced based on network, user, device and time of day (especially important for remote employees and mobile devices).
• The security solution for mobile workspaces must not compromise enterprise firewalls and must work with any type of remote network address translation (NAT) environment.

When enterprises grant remote users access to their internal UC networks they must also offer privacy and authentication for all users while addressing vulnerabilities in the UC protocols. At the same time, IT administrators must:

• maintain control over the enterprise firewall
• enforce granular UC policies
• ensure the quality of service (QoS) required for VoIP and UC services

To enable secure mobile workspaces, enterprises must deploy a comprehensive, real-time UC security solution that offers comprehensive threat protection, strict policy enforcement, robust access control, and privacy in a single security appliance.

The Sipera VoIP/UC Security Solution

The Sipera UC-Sec family of appliances offers comprehensive, real-time UC security that includes threat protection, policy enforcement, access control, and privacy to address the security issues associated with the deployment of mobile workspaces. Built on the foundation of the Sipera VIPER engine and real-time platform, the UC-Sec appliances perform the following functions:

• protects against threats by blocking them at the enterprise perimeter
• offers fine-grained policy enforcement based on user, network, device and time of day
• integrates with AAA and two-factor authentication servers for strong access control
• serves as the termination point for encrypted TLS and SRTP streams traversing the uncontrolled Internet
• simplifies the deployment of mobile workspaces by providing firewall/NAT traversal security, phone configuration proxy, and preservation of voice QoS

Secure Implementation

Sipera UC-Sec appliances are deployed in the enterprise DMZ to secure mobile workspaces and are centrally managed by the Sipera UC-Sec EMS deployed in the core. In addition, UC-Sec appliances can be deployed in secure channel deployments to minimize the dynamic pinholes across firewalls and simplify any changes that may be required in the future. The UC-Sec appliances also support high-availability deployments and clustering across multiple sites for scalability and geographic redundancy.

Secure Results

Enterprises that have addressed the security issues outlined in this application note, by deploying Sipera UC-Sec security appliances in their VoIP/UC networks, are realizing the many business benefits of enabling VoIP and UC mobile workspaces.

These enterprises have cut telecommunications costs by leveraging their internal IP PBX to handle calls within the enterprise for free or by routing international calls at much lower rates. Mobile employees have significantly reduced overages and roaming charges while enjoying true mobility, with one phone and number, by using WiFi/dual-mode phones.

In other cases, enterprises support mobile workspaces as an integral part of their business continuity plan so that VoIP/UC remote users can conduct business activities from virtually any location.

For organizations that want to realize the many benefits of implementing unified communications, the solution is simple. The Sipera UC-Sec family of products provides real-time security for mobile workspaces and offers comprehensive threat protection, policy enforcement, access control and privacy, in one appliance.

Learn more: Read the Securing Mobile Workspaces to understand this complete mobile VoIP/UC security solution.