Pulse Secure SSL VPN Appliance to be retired

Please note that CSIT will be retiring our Pulse Secure SSLVPN appliance on September 1, 2020.

The Pulse Secure appliance provided support for 25 simultaneous VPN connections to the NWU campus network, as well as web based access to selected network file systems.  This particular appliance has aged beyond vendor’s declared end-of-life and, as a consequence, is no longer being updated or supported by the vendor.  We made the decision in March to keep the appliance in service to minimize inconvenience and maximize the available VPN connections available or faculty and staff as the University transitioned to a remote work environment.  It is time now to retire the appliance and remove it from service.

If you have been using Pulse Secure to gain VPN access to the campus network, you will need to transition to the Fortinet VPN Client.  The Fortinet alternative is not limited to a specific number of simultaneous users and is incorporated into the campus firewall.  Instructions for obtaining the Fortinet VPN Client software, as well as installing and configuring the software have been distributed through email.

We recommend that you make this transition as soon as possible.  Remember that a VPN connection to the NWU campus network is necessary only for access to certain security sensitive services hosted on the campus network from non-NWU networks.  It is not necessary if your computer is already on the NWU campus network (wired or wireless), nor is it necessary for externally hosted services such as Office 365, Canvas, Digication, etc.

Thanks,