Virtual private networks (VPNs) can significantly boost productivity. For small businesses every employee's contribution counts, and with VPNs providing full remote access to corporate email and files, remote workers and traveling staff can stay connected and productive from home offices and when on the road.
Until recently, VPNs were complex and expensive to implement, maintain, and protect, and only large companies used them. Most small businesses couldn't afford to implement VPNs due to the up-front costs and the technical challenges of keeping them running securely.
But now Cisco and VeriSign have joined forces to provide VPNs that are easy for small businesses to implement and highly secure. From the world's leading supplier of networking equipment comes the Cisco® SA 500 Series Security Appliances, a line of all-in-one network appliances specifically designed to deliver VPNs with ease of implementation. And from VeriSign, a brand trusted for Internet security, comes a built-in option to implement strong authentication simply by using SSL VPN and subscribing to the VeriSign Identity Protection (VIP) service on a per user basis.
VIP is a powerful two-factor authentication (2FA) service. 2FA is a mature, proven technology that protects business data by requiring users to provide not just a username and password, but also a 6-digit security code (one-time password) generated by the user's security credential each time they connect via VPN. Even if attackers steal the user's password, they still cannot gain access to the organization's VPN, because they have no means of generating a valid security code.
Traditionally, implementing 2FA required purchasing costly separate servers and software, extensive training, and security expertise. By providing 2FA as a service integrated into the Cisco SA 500 Series Security Appliances, VIP eliminates these additional costs, with no capital expenditure and no ongoing investment in managing authentication or device lifecycles. In addition to cost savings, it offers:
• A full suite of services: VIP services are part of a comprehensive suite of authentication and fraud detection services designed to strengthen and protect users' digital identities and VPNs.
• Convenient choice of credentials: VIP supports the following credential options for generating one-time passwords for strong authentication: VIP Security Card, VIP Security Token, and VIP Access for Mobile Phones. By offering a range of choices, VIP enables businesses to repurpose any existing company or private credentials for more convenient and cost-effective strong authentication.
• Ease of credential management: Managing the lifecycle of credentials used to be time-consuming and expensive. VIP makes 2FA more affordable by taking care of every aspect of credential lifecycle management, including issuance, synchronization, revocation, replacement, tracking, and auditing of strong credentials.
• Connection with the VIP Network: When a business joins the VIP Network, all its credential holders can use the same credential at any one of the 60 VIP Network members, including eBay, PayPal, and AOL.
Table 1 gives the specifications for the models in the Cisco Small Business Pro SA 500 Series. Table 2 contains the list of countries VIP is available.
Table 1. Cisco SA 500 Series Security Appliances with VeriSign Identity Protection Technical Specifications
SA 520
SA 520W
SA 540
SKU
SA520-K9
SA520W-K9
SA540-K9
Firewall
Stateful packet inspection throughput*
200 Mbps
200 Mbps
300 Mbps
Unified threat management (UTM) throughput
200 Mbps
200 Mbps
300 Mbps
Connections
15,000
15,000
40,000
Rules
100
100
100
Schedules
Yes
Yes
Yes
VPN
VeriSign VIP support
Yes
Yes
Yes
SSL VPN tunnels
2 seats included; license require to upgrade to 25 seats (max)
2 seats included; license require to upgrade to 25 seats (max)
50 seats (max) included
* Performance test methodology: Maximum performance based on RFC 2544. All results are aggregate bidirectional. Actual performance may vary upon network environment and configuration.
Table 2. List of Countries where VIP is Available
Australia
Bahrain
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Cyprus
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Kuwait
Macedonia
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Peru
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Slovakia
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
United Kingdom
United States
Vietnam
Learn More
The Cisco SA 500 Series Security Appliances with VeriSign Identity Protection provide small businesses with an affordable, secure, and easy-to-manage VPN that can enhance the productivity of remote employees as well as suppliers, customers, and business partners. Visit http://www.cisco.com/go/viptoken for more information.
About Cisco
Cisco offers hardware, software, and services that help create the Internet solutions that make networks possible by providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time. For more information on Cisco Small Business products and solutions, visit: http://www.cisco.com/smallbusiness.
About VeriSign
VeriSign is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the digital world. Billions of times each day, companies and consumers rely on VeriSign's Internet infrastructure to communicate and conduct commerce with confidence. Visit http://www.verisign.com for more information.
VeriSign, the VeriSign logo, the Checkmark Circle, VeriSign Secured, and other trademarks, service marks and designs are registered or unregistered trademarks of VeriSign, Inc., and its subsidiaries in the United States and foreign countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
