SSLVPN_EPC

SSL VPN > Remote Access EPC

The following sections describe the Remote Access End Point Control (EPC) feature:

Remote Access EPC Overview

This section provides an introduction to the Remote Access EPC feature. This section contains the following subsections:

What is Remote Access EPC?

Traditional VPN solutions typically provide access only from the relative safety of a corporate laptop. These VPNs are primarily designed to prevent unauthorized network access, and they typically are not designed to verify that the user’s computer is secure. Corporate IT departments configure computers under their control with antivirus software, firewalls, and other safeguards designed to protect them from malicious software.

Because SSL VPN solutions can provide network access from any web-enabled device—such as public computers at cafes, airports, or hotels—extra care must be taken to verify that the user’s environment is secure. These unmanaged computers can easily be infected by keystroke recorders, viruses, Trojan horses, and other hazards that can compromise your network.

Remote Access End Point Control (EPC) verifies that remote users’s computers are secure before allowing network access.

How Does Remote Access EPC Work?

Remote Access EPC guards against threats when your network is accessed from remote, insecure environments. Remote Access EPC is a two-part process:

  1. Evaluates the Security Attributes of a user’s computer.

  2. The user’s computer is checked against a number of configurable Security Attributes, such as antivirus, anti-spyware, or personal firewall programs, client certificates, registry entry, or Windows version.

  3. Assigns the user session to a Device Profile that grants an appropriate level of network access over SSL VPN, depending on the security of the user’s computer.

The user session is assigned to a Device Profile that will either allow or block network access. If the computer does not meet the security requirements, a message can be displayed to instruct the user on how to secure the computer. Multiple Device Profiles can be configured to provide different levels of network access,

Device Profiles

There are three categories of Device Profiles that you can customize, plus a built-in default Device Profile.

Note         When Remote Access EPC is disabled, the Default Device Profile is used to configure SSL VPN access. With Remote Access EPC disabled, only the Settings, Client Routes, and Client Settings options can be configured. The Security Attributes settings are not available when EPC is disabled.

Figure 71:26 illustrates the order in which the device profiles are evaluated when a user initiates an SSL VPN session.

Figure 71:26   Remote Access End Point Control Process

remote_access_EPC_process1.jpg

 

Security Attributes

Security Attributes are the critical component of Remote Access EPC. Each Device Profile can contain multiple Security Attributes. In order for the client to match the Device Profile, it must satisfy all of the configured Security Attributes.

SonicWALL Remote Access EPC currently supports the following eleven types of Security Attributes:

Supported Platforms

SonicWALL platform support:

NetExtender client support:

Configuring Remote Access EPC

To configure Remote Access EPC, perform the following steps:

  1. Navigate to the SSL VPN > Remote Access EPC page of the SonicWALL GUI.

  2. Select the Enable Remote Access EPC checkbox. When EPC is disabled, only the Default Device Profile can be configured, but without the Security Attribute settings. The Remote Access EPC page is divided into the following sections:

  3. SonicWALL recommends beginning by configuring the Default Device Profile. Scroll to the bottom of the Remote Access EPC page and click the Configure icon. See Configuring Remote Access EPC Device Profiles for full instructions on configuring the Device Profile.

  4. Click the Add button to configure additional Device Profiles. See Configuring Remote Access EPC Device Profiles for full instructions.

  5. If you will support SSL VPN sessions from Linux or MacOS devices, click the appropriate button in the OS Type menu.

  6. Click the Configure icon to configure the Default Device Profile for Linux and/or MacOS.

  7. Note         SonicOS currently does not support Remote Access EPC Security Attributes for Linux or MacOS; but in order to support Linux and MacOS users, you must configure the network address and client routes for the Linux and MacOS Default Device Profile.

  8. In the Device Profile Fallback options section, select how you want to treat users who do not match any of the Deny or Allow Device profiles:

  9. To configure the message that is displayed to quarantined users, click the configure icon for the Quarantine Device Profile.

  10. Click the Example Template to auto-populate the Quarantine Message with formatted HTML text. The quarantine pop-up message is displayed in a window that is 500 pixels wide. Edit the text of the message and click Preview to view how it will be displayed to quarantined users.

Configuring Remote Access EPC Device Profiles

Configuring a Remote Access EPC Device Profile is a four-part process:

  1. Configuring Device Profile Settings (for all Device Profiles)

  2. Configuring Security Attributes (for all Device Profiles)

  3. Configuring Client Routes (only for Allow Device Profiles)

  4. Configuring Client Settings (only for Allow Device Profiles)

Configuring Device Profile Settings

  1. On the SSL VPN > Remote Access EPC page, click the Add button. The Edit Device Profile window displays.

Enter the following information on the Settings tab:

Select Create net network to create a new Address Object. For the Zone Assignment, select the same zone you selected above. For Type, select Range.

Configuring Security Attributes

  1. Click on the Security Attributes tab.

  2. In the Select Attribute(s) pulldown menu, select the appropriate type of attribute. The following sections describe how to configure the Security Attributes:

  3. Complete the attribute-specific configuration (described below) and click Add to current attributes.

  4. Repeat as needed to configure multiple attributes. When more than one Security Attribute is configured, the device must match all of them in order for it to match the Device Profile.

  5. When finished click the Client Routes tab and continue to Configuring Client Routes.

 

Antivirus Program

The Device Profile checks that the specified Antivirus program is installed.

The following information is used to define the Antivirus program attribute:

Tip             For all of these numeric searches in Security Attributes, you can specify one of five types of comparison operators in the pulldown menu: greater than (>), greater than or equal to (>=), equal to (=), less than (<), or less than or equal to (<=).

Antispyware program

The Device Profile checks that the specified Antispyware program is installed.

The following information is used to define the Antispyware program attribute:

Application

The Device Profile checks that the specified application is installed.

Enter the file name of the application. Wildcard characters (* and ?) can be used, and the entry is not case sensitive.

Client certificate

The Device Profile checks that a Certificate Authority (CA) certificate is installed.

Select the certificate from the CA certificate pulldown menu. All of the certificates installed on the SonicWALL security appliance are displayed in the pulldown menu. In order for a client device to match this profile, the appliance must be configured with the root certificate for the CA that issued the client certificate to your users (intermediate certificates do not work).

Select the certificate store(s) you want searched:

Directory name

The Device Profile checks that a specific directory is present on the device’s file system.

Enter the Directory name that must be present on the hard disk of the device. Directory names are not case-sensitive.

Equipment ID

The Device Profile verifies the Equipment ID, a unique hardware identifier, of the device.

Enter the Device identifier for the user’s device. Only one device will be able to match this Device Profile. The device identifier is usually an attribute in the authentication directory represented by a variable; for example, {unique_id}.

A hard disk utility program such as HD Tune can be used to determine the Device Identifier. In the following screenshot of HD Tune, the Device Identifier is listed as “Serial number.”

File name

The Device Profile checks that a specific file is installed.

The following information is used to define the file name attribute:

Personal firewall program

The Device Profile checks that a personal firewall program is installed.

The following information is used to define the Personal firewall program attribute:

Windows domain

The Device Profile checks that the specified Windows domain is present.

In the Computer is a member of domain field, enter one or more domain names, without a DNS suffix. Multiple entries can be separated with semicolons. The domain can contain wildcard characters (* and ?).

Windows registry entry

The Device Profile checks that the specified Windows registry entry is present.

The following information is used to define the Windows registry entry attribute:

Wildcards can be used for the Value name and Registry entry fields, but not for the key. To enter a special character (such as a wildcard or backslash), you must precede it with a backslash.

Windows version

The Device Profile checks the version of Windows that the device is running.

The following information is used to define the Windows version search:

The comparison Operator applies to all three values.

When you have completed the Security Attributes configuration, click on the Client Routes tab.

Configuring Client Routes

The Client Routes tab is used to govern the network access that is granted to SSL VPN users.

 

Select Enabled from the Tunnel All Mode drop-down list to force all traffic for NetExtender users over the SSL VPN NetExtender tunnel—including traffic destined for the remote user’s local network. This is accomplished by adding the following routes to the remote client’s route table:

IP Address

Subnet mask

0.0.0.0

0.0.0.0

0.0.0.0

128.0.0.0

128.0.0.0

128.0.0.0

NetExtender also adds routes for the local networks of all connected Network Connections. These routes are configured with higher metrics than any existing routes to force traffic destined for the local network over the SSL VPN tunnel instead. For example, if a remote user is has the IP address 10.0.67.64 on the 10.0.*.* network, the route 10.0.0.0/255.255.0.0 is added to route traffic through the SSL VPN tunnel.

Note         In addition to configuring Tunnel All Mode, you must also configure the individual SSL VPN user accounts. See Configuring Users and Groups for Client Routes and Tunnel All Mode.

To configure client routes to grant SSL VPN users network access, perform the following steps:

  1. Select the appropriate Address Object in the Networks list.

  2. Click the -> button to add it to the Client Routes list.

  3. Repeat for any additional Address Objects.

  4. When finished, click on the Client Settings tab. When you are finished with configuring the Device Profile, see the following section on how to configure SSL VPN users and groups for SSL VPN access.

Configuring Users and Groups for Client Routes and Tunnel All Mode

Note         After completing the Client Routes configuration in the Device Profile, you must also assign all SSL VPN users and groups access to these routes on the Users > Local Users or Users > Local Groups pages.

To configure SSL VPN NetEextender users and groups to access Client Routes, perform the following steps.

  1. Navigate to the Users > Local Users or Users > Local Groups page.

  2. Click on the Configure button for the SSL VPN NetExtender user or group.

  3. Click on the VPN Access tab.

  4. Select the address object for the Client Route, and click the right arrow (->) button.

  5. Click OK.

  6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for all local users and groups that use SSL VPN NetExtender.

 

To configure SSL VPN users and groups for Tunnel All Mode, perform the following steps.

  1. Navigate to the Users > Local Users or Users > Local Groups page.

  2. Click on the Configure button for an SSL VPN NetExtender user or group.

  3. Click on the VPN Access tab.

  4. Select the WAN RemoteAccess Networks address object and click the right arrow (->) button.

  5.  

  6. Click OK.

  7. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for all local users and groups that use SSL VPN NetExtender.

 

Configuring Client Settings

The Client Settings tab is used to configure the DNS settings for SSL VPN clients as well as several options for the NetExtender client.

To configure Client Settings, perform the following tasks:

  1. Click the Default DNS Settings to use the default DNS settings of the SonicWALL security appliance. The DNS and WINS configuration is auto-propagated.

  2. Or you can manually configure the DNS information. In the DNS Server 1 field, enter the IP address of the primary DNS server, or click the Default DNS Settings to use the default settings.

  3. (Optional) In the DNS Server 2 field, enter the IP address of the backup DNS server.

  4. DNS Search List

  5. (Optional) In the WINS Server 1 field, enter the IP address of the primary WINS server.

  6. (Optional) In the WINS Server 2 field, enter the IP address of the backup WINS server.

  7. Configure the following NetExtender client settings to customize the behavior of NetExtender when users connect and disconnect:

  8. Click OK to complete the Device Profile configuration process.