NCP Secure Communications
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
As opposed to other Remote Access vendors, NCP does not use the Microsoft RAS Dialer. The following issues are involved here:
- Do permanent IP addresses need to be defined for each VPN Client? What will the procedure be when network structures change (for instance when a Class C network is no longer sufficient?)
- Will the users then get administration passwords?
- Which user is even capable of changing network settings? Or do all PCs need to be returned to the central office?
- Is the administration cost justifiable in large scenarios?
The NCP Dialer is a central feature of the Secure Communications Solution and offers the following features:
- Low Level Call Back
The remote client initiates an automatic callback through the central gateway. This occurs at no charge through the "D-channel knocking function". Secure Communications supports two callback modes:- Permanent callback to a specified telephone number, such as the home office number.
- Variable callback to different (dynamic) telephone numbers, such as the mobile office.
- Central charge billing in the corporate headquarters (compatible to COSO Charge-One-Side-Only)
- Additional security against attacks
- Short Hold Mode
This feature is for minimizing the transmission costs in dial-in networks. If no data flows during a transmission, then no connection charges will be incurred. In the process the system ensures that the teleworker does not have to login again to the central gateway to continue the session. After a pause he can continue his work at precisely that point where he interrupted his activities. This also works under "difficult" conditions, particularly when using de-centralized Citrix clients. The Short Hold Mode mechanism handles the required connection and login procedures unnoticed in the background. The timeout can be permanently configured or it can be dynamically controlled by a charge impulse. - Dialer Protection
The system ignores configuration of Trojan dialers, which automatically connect to expensive telephone numbers. In addition, all NCP dialer configurations are stored encrypted and are not accessible to unauthorized persons.(Note: The Microsoft RAS must be deactivated in this case) - Operating system independence
The NCP dialer has been developed so that it can be implemented with full functionality under different operating systems (currently available: Windows 32, Windows CE, Linux)