Check Point Extends VPN Security To Handhelds

The software integrates a personal firewall with secure remote access and centralized management capabilities to protect Pocket PC devices, the vendor said at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany.

Johnnie Konstantas, Check Point product marketing manager, described the product as an industry first.

Securing PDAs and handhelds is key as such devices proliferate in the enterprise and workers use them to connect to corporate resources, she said.

SecureClient for Pocket PCs, slated for availability in April, supports communications through WLANs using both 802.11a and 802.11b, wireless Internet, and dial-up and Ethernet connections.

The software supports Intel-based Pocket PC devices, including Compaq Computer's iPaqs and Hewlett-Packard's Jornada 560 Series PDAs and Jornada 720 Series handheld PCs.

The product offers Check Point's solution provider partners a huge opportunity, Konstantas said.

"Every type of customer who will look to use these devices to connect to critical resources is going to be concerned about security," she said.

Todd Barrett, network sales manager, CPU Sales and Service, a Waltham, Mass.-based solution provider, said verticals such as the pharmaceutical industry would be particularly interested Check Point's new solution.

"There are definitely big markets that can jump on this right away," he said.

Prices for SecureClient range from $95 for one seat to $35 in volume. Check Point's U.S. operations are based in Redwood City, Calif.