NCP Engineering (www.ncp-e.com) says its NCP Secure Enterprise VPN Server now integrates with Apple’s iOS to perform certificate-based authentication to control network access of iPhones and iPads.

In this era of Bring-Your-Own-Device, users increasingly prefer to access the company network via various devices, often applying a standard username and password across them all. With its iOS secure authentication, NCP enables IT administrators to use certificates to control assignment rights on these end devices -- without interfering with the user-determined username and passwords, according to the folks at NCP.

Apple’s mobile device management (MDM) distributes various certificates to all authorized iOS devices. When users establish VPN tunnels from their devices, the NCP Secure Enterprise VPN Server uses these certificates to determine whether the user is accessing the network via a notebook, iPad or iPhone and subsequently assigns centrally-defined rights.

This enables network administrators to, for example, allow a Mac OS X or Windows laptop full access rights, while limiting iOS devices to partial access to the central network. Users are unable to decipher or manipulate the certificates, significantly reducing the risk of certifications being duplicated for unauthorized devices, according to the folks at NCP.

With its iOS compatibility, NCP enables end users and enterprises to leverage the latest devices and operating systems, while maintaining secure remote access with its easy-to-use yet powerful VPN software, they add. NCP's hybrid Secure Enterprise VPN Server is also available for Windows and Linux in 32 and 64 bit versions and supports all VPN technologies.