Organizations are deploying mobile computer applications over wide geographic areas, using an increasing number of private and public networks, many of which are wireless. Meanwhile, there are a growing number of regulatory requirements for the protection of communicated data, particularly in government, financial and medical areas. Even without regulations, nearly all enterprises and organizations want to ensure that their data communications are secure, and that their networks remain protected from external attacks.

To implement security policies and to most effectively design their security architectures, network managers must understand the security features of the networks they are using, as well as their limitations.

This white paper discusses security recommendations and regulations, reviews the security mechanisms available with public wireless networks, explains where they fall short, and concludes that only an end-to-end security approach such as a mobile VPN can fully address the security needs for many applications.