Over the last year I’ve had some unique opportunities to talk to Aruba customers both locally here in Denmark as well as other international customers. When reflecting on my conversations, no two customers or companies were identical, and I’ve seen a range of different use cases for the same technologies. But the two things all of the customers had in common before implementing Aruba was the wish to spend less time firefighting issues that come up and a need to have a secure network.
How can companies implement a solution that gives them a secure network? One option that stands out is Aruba ClearPass. ClearPass helps secure a business network when it comes to IoT, guests and BYOD on the network. Organizations are more exposed to attacks than ever and staying alert and prepared is critical to any company.
Welcome: IoT, Guests or BYOD?
Some organizations have a lot of daily guests, contractors and temporary workers, whether it is in the public sector (for example, museums, hospitals, schools and universities), airports or an enterprise company. How can you make your employees and visitors feel welcome and at the same time not increase the risk of being compromised? What about the growing number of IoT devices?
You not only need a simple tool to help you identify devices and guests across the entire infrastructure, but you also need a policy-based tool to help you define how users and devices connect and importantly what they can access.
- Make your visitors feel welcome. ClearPass Guest simplifies your visitor process and enables nontechnical employees such as receptionists to create temporary guest accounts. You can customize mobile friendly portal to be set up in different ways, such as sponsor approval, self-registration and more. Or visitors can be given credentials by SMS, email, printed badges or through a cloud identity (Facebook and Twitter). ClearPass Guest also has support for more commercial-oriented Wi-Fi offerings with credit card billing or access through the user watching advertisements.
- Self-service guest Wi-Fi. With Aruba ClearPass Onboard, the IT department can give contractors, temporary workers (or other chosen profiles) permission to securely self-configure their devices, which frees time for the IT department to do other more valuable work. The portal dynamically detects a device and guides the user to the right settings.
- IoT device security is a challenge for many companies. With all the different device types, it can be difficult to keep a clear overview of the network. If you don’t have visibility, it gets harder to secure your enterprise network. IoT devices are easily onboarded using Aruba ClearPass Device Insight, which can identify a device by using AI to discover and profile devices, users or IoT connected to the network. Once a device has been onboarded, the correct policy will be applied.
With all the different users and devices, it can be difficult maintaining visibility across the entire infrastructure, but the Aruba Platform offers a wide range of customizable possibilities that keeps the balance between a highly secure network and being user friendly at the same time.
Go Deeper
If you want to know more about keeping a secure but user-friendly network, I can recommend reading these articles:
Guests Need Access Too, Ya’Know
Validated Reference Design: Guest Access with ArubaOS
IoT is the BYOD of the Wired Network
Read All My Blogs in This Series
Create Valuable Experiences at Hotels with Indoor Mapping
Create Memorable Museum Experiences with Location Services
Create Valuable Experiences: The Digital Store
Creating Valuable Experiences: Smart Stadium and Concerts of the Future
Cybersecurity Horror Story: Understaffed and Hit by Ransomware
