Aventail Mobile runs on the company's family of SSL VPN gateway appliances that provide secure remote Web access, client/server communications, and file sharing, according to the company. SSL VPNs enforce "extremely granular access control" such that all users, regardless of location, must be granted explicit permission to access specific network resources, the company says.

Version 2 of Aventail Mobile builds on the core capabilities of the company's VPN appliances' original Windows Mobile handheld support, introduced last year, including WorkPlace Mobile and Connect Mobile. WorkPlace Mobile is described as a "customized web portal" that offers easy, clientless access to web-based applications from any mobile device; Connect Mobile is described as a "light-weight, web-deployed agent" that provides broad access to both Web and client/server applications from Windows Mobile PDAs.

In addition to support for Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, the company lists these other new features of Aventail Mobile version 2:

• Mobile Roaming -- implements "session persistence," allowing users to change networks without having to re-authenticate or re-launch the VPN.
  
  
• Mobile End Point Control -- now extends to Windows Mobile PDAs, providing device interrogation and access control based on the state of the mobile end point.
  
  
• Mobile Device Watermarks -- administrators can use a certificate to "watermark" a mobile device so that if it is lost or stolen, the certificate can be quickly revoked, rendering the device useless for corporate network access.

Aventail Mobile also optimizes application content, so that users are only granted access to applications appropriate to their specific mobile devices, rather than being shown links that would not work or are not optimized for their devices, according to the company.

Pricing and Availability

Mobile 2 is expected to ship within Q3, as part of an update to the software bundled with the company's "Smart SSL" VPN appliances. Connect Mobile, the mobile agent that runs in the mobile devices, is an add-on feature starting at $995, the company said.

---

Related stories:

• SSL VPN platform secures remote app access from Windows Mobile devices
  
• Software secures the "mobile ecosystem"
  
• Wireless VPN supports Windows Mobile 5.0
  
• Windows Mobile VPN client plays with Cisco
  
• VPN platform offers high security to wireless Pocket PCs
  
• WiFi endpoint authentication software gains features, flexibility
  
• Pocket PC WLAN utility boasts ease-of-use, WPA security
  
• "Identity management" software secures mobile apps at device level
  
• Developing a security policy for mobile devices