Remote access for your business: how can you allow remote access for employees safely?

• Author: Coryell, Bryce

One of the main technology challenges facing businesses today is how to allow employees remote access to the company computer system in a secure fashion. Business owners want their employees to be able to work remotely. If employees can access company e-mail, files or programs when out of town or out of the office, we can all be more productive. However, whenever a company allows remote access to its computer network, there is added exposure to hackers, viruses, worms and other threats. What is the best solution for business remote access that does not present a security risk? Microsoft Terminal Services, combined with other security best practices, is an excellent solution for secure remote access that allows full functionality, just as if users were in front of their office computers.

From a user perspective, users authenticate to a network, then launch Terminal Services. This can be as simple as clicking on an icon on a properly configured home computer or laptop. A window opens up that looks exactly like the login screen users see at their work PC. From here, the user types in his username and password and the window then behaves just as his regular computer. Unlike lots of remote access solutions that only provide e-mail, Terminal Services allows users to open programs that are installed on the Terminal Server just as they would on their office PC. For instance, I wrote this article from my laptop while logged into Terminal Services from home. I can run all of my applications, such as Microsoft Word, through the Terminal Services window. All of the functionality on my PC at the office is available from anywhere with an Internet connection with Terminal Services.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

When a user logs into Microsoft Terminal Services, the Terminal Server (generally located back at the office) tells the remote computer what to display on the screen. Whenever the remote user clicks the mouse or presses a key on their remote computer, the Terminal Server reacts and makes the necessary changes. The Terminal Server tells the remote computer what the updated screen looks like after the user has made a change or opened a program. Because only screenshots and user input such as mouse clicks are transferred over the Internet, Terminal Services is one of the fastest solutions available for remote access. Very little actual data is transmitted, and it is encrypted by default in Terminal Server 2003. Because of this, and the fact...