V-One has made it possible for users of Palm handhelds to take advantage of V-One VPN.
The VPN appliance vendor announced at NetWorld+Interop that its SmartPass VPN software now supports the Palm OS, meaning remote users can make secure IP connections to corporate VPNs from their PDAs.
The software helps customer handhelds connect to VPNs via phone or leased line links or wireless connections, and thereby access e-mail or corporate applications and databases.
To gain access to the VPN, remote users must first authenticate themselves using hardware tokens that must sync up with a V-One SmartGate server located at a corporate office.
Once cleared to use the VPN, the remote Palm device encrypts data using Data Encryption Standard (DES). That is not as secure as Triple-DES, but it requires less processing power, which is more in keeping with the power of the handheld chip.
The new SmartPass VPN software supports old as well as newer Palms, including Palm IIIx, Palm IIIe, Palm IIIxe, Palm IIIc, Palm V and Palm Vx. The machines must be supported by Palm OS Versions 3.0, 3.1, 3.3 or 3.5.
V-One already made client software for Microsoft CE and Pocket PC PDAs.
SmartPass for Palm software comes bundled with SmartGuard 4.1 VPN appliances. An appliance plus 50 clients costs about $US6,000. Additional clients cost $US99 each, with the price dropping as customers buy more.
Also, V-One has upgraded its SmartGuard 4.1 VPN appliance to support VPN connections with other SmartGuard 4.1 appliances. This enables customers to link multi-user sites via IP Security VPN tunnels. Before, the SmartGuard appliances supported only dial-up users.