How Ericom Made It My New Normal, and Is Helping Other Businesses Do the Same
Like many of you, I’ve adapted my lifestyle to deal with the new reality of the Coronavirus outbreak. I’m not panicking, but I am taking prudent steps to stay both safe and productive, and asking my loved ones to do the same. In one area though I had a head start: I’ve been a remote worker for nearly a year now. In fact, I am a remote worker for a company that makes secure remote access products. So when it comes to knowing what works for remote work, it doesn’t get much better than that!
I’m fortunate to be pretty well-networked in the Washington DC area, and in the broader cybersecurity tech industry as a whole. As a result, I’ve been able to help friends and contacts, in big companies and small, leverage Ericom solutions as they transition their users to remote work environments. In the hope that some of my pointers might prove helpful to you, here are a few key solutions in the Ericom portfolio that have proved helpful to them as they’ve rapidly launched remote work programs:
Ericom AccessNow – I use this product every day and absolutely love it – when I notice that I am using it at all. Our IT team had me up and running with it on it on my first day at Ericom. In a nutshell, it provides browser-based RDP Access from any device with an HTML5 compatible browser, including from Chromebooks. I use it to access the Windows-based corporate apps I need, but it can be used to access Windows desktops (virtual & physical), running on Windows Terminal Services/RDS/VDI platforms, including Microsoft Hyper-V and other hypervisors. There is zero client software to install. I mean nothing…no Flash, Silverlight, ActiveX, etc. IT teams are amazed with how simple it is to deploy and the level of access to desktops and control it provides for users, regardless of where they are located. More information here.
Ericom Connect – For enterprises needing a solution with more administrative control, authentication system integration, monitoring, and so on, I point friends and business contacts to Ericom Connect. Like AccessNow, Connect is a remote application and desktop access solution, but it has more of the fine grain controls that larger enterprises look for, as well as the massive scalability they require. On fact, a single Ericom Connect server can support up to 100,000 concurrent users, eliminating the need for multiple deployments. It is 100% web-based, making it easy for employees to use. Administrative management is also accessible from any web browser. More information here.
Ericom Shield – Many enterprises have concerns about their new army of remote workers going to the web over personal networks, coffee shop WIFI, and other less-than-secure networks. They are projecting that web access from non-corporate networks may become as much as 70-80% of their web traffic. And since that traffic will not being routed through on-site network filters, controls, and phishing prevention, they’re concerned that endpoints may get infected with web-based malware. They understand that once that occurs, the malware can move laterally within the corporate network when the user connects back in. This is where Ericom Shield remote browser isolation solution can help. Whether users browse to a malicious site independently or reach one by clicking a seemingly innocuous URL embedded in a phishing email, Ericom Shield ensures they are safe since web content is never executed on the endpoint. Only an interactive media stream representing the website is sent to the device browser, providing a secure, seamless, fully interactive user experience. Ericom Shield’s browser isolation technology can render sites in read-only mode to prevent users from entering credentials for additional phishing protection. File attachments are sanitized before being transmitted to endpoints, ensuring that malware within downloads cannot infect end-user devices. More information here.
I hope this quick overview is helpful for many of you. I know it will help me, since instead of talking it through with the friends and acquaintances who call me for help, I’ll now be able to send them a link to this blog!
Wishing you and your remote workers good health, as well as the same productive and secure experience I’ve enjoyed during my past year at Ericom.
