Security technology targets the LAN

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
09/19/05

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* User-based LAN access control is a new technology that
redefines network admission and access
* Links related to Networking Technology Update
* Featured reader resource
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by HP
FROM THE NETWORK CORE TO THE NETWORK EDGE

Traffic management becomes critical as your network
infrastructure expands to support different types of traffic and
users. Most traffic management solutions have serious
limitations: too expensive, difficult to use, and overly taxing
on bandwidth. However ProCurve Networking by HP addresses these
requirements, overcomes the limitations of other solutions, and
gives you valuable insight into LAN performance. Click here to
download HP's Traffic Management Whitepaper
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=115474
_______________________________________________________________
SPYWARE SHOOTOUT

Need to defend your network from spyware? Lots of tools and
software have hit the market recently, and network executives
are left to decide which weapon works best. Our Spyware Shootout
2005 suggests the gateway approach might be the best starting
point but is it a long-term strategy? Click here for more:
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=114680
_______________________________________________________________

Today's focus:

Security technology targets the LAN

By Joseph Tardo

Access-control lists, originally designed for routers to deny or
admit packets entering a network from a WAN, have drawbacks in
controlling a diverse group of users accessing LANs. ACLs have
no knowledge of traffic-flow semantics or content, can't adjust
access rights for individual users, and suffer scalability and
performance limitations.

User-based LAN access control (ULA) is a new technology that
redefines network admission and access. Made possible by a new
breed of high-performance ASICs, emerging ULA-capable LAN
security systems sit in a network at the user-access layer or at
an aggregation layer, and inspect every packet on every port for
security policy compliance and malware.

The technology lets an administrator identify who is using a
network, where and how he logged on, what resources he can
access, and whether the LAN is still secure and malware-free
once the user is admitted. It also provides automatic quarantine
mechanisms to isolate problem users immediately, and to
dynamically change from normal to quarantine policy when malware
is detected. In effect, it works to create a personal DMZ for
every user on every port.

User-based LAN access control operates transparently to end
users, while providing powerful security safeguards for network
or security administrators. ULA-capable systems are flexible
enough to offer several mechanisms for authentication, and smart
enough to understand the concepts of user identity and security
policies associated with each user. For example, when a user
plugs his laptop in to a network, he authenticates via 802.1X,
or a captive portal Web logon page, and the system immediately
applies that user's security policies to all applications and
network services he accesses.

This security technology also integrates with existing
authentication databases to identify user-group memberships. A
system matches group memberships from an existing RADIUS or
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol database to security
policies that will be applied on a LAN access port. This
group-based approach guarantees scalability across a
corporation, because policies are defined one time and all group
members automatically inherit the policies at logon. When a user
is transient (say, a contractor working on the latest SAP
upgrade), policies travel with him wherever he connects to the
network.

To learn more about ULA, please see:
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate7205>

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. McAfee, Omniquad top anti-spyware test
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate6919>

2. Volunteers rebuild Gulf Coast communications with wireless
nets <http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate7206>

3. Cell phone tossing contests catching attention abroad
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate7207>

4. Supermarket chain freezes Internet access
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate6572>

5. The rise of the IT architect
<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate7022>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact:

Tardo is principal security architect for Nevis Networks. He can
be reached at joseph.tardo@nevisnetworks.com
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by HP
FROM THE NETWORK CORE TO THE NETWORK EDGE

Traffic management becomes critical as your network
infrastructure expands to support different types of traffic and
users. Most traffic management solutions have serious
limitations: too expensive, difficult to use, and overly taxing
on bandwidth. However ProCurve Networking by HP addresses these
requirements, overcomes the limitations of other solutions, and
gives you valuable insight into LAN performance. Click here to
download HP's Traffic Management Whitepaper
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=115473
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Technology Update archive:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/tech/index.html
_______________________________________________________________
EXCLUSIVE HOW-TO WEBCAST - Proactive Endpoint Security.

You can't have a winning endpoint security solution until you
can define it: Easy to deploy and manage, simple to use, minimal
user impact, real-time monitoring and notification, flexible
reporting and low total cost of ownership.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=114714
_______________________________________________________________
FEATURED READER RESOURCE

IS IT THE NETWORK OR THE STORAGE THAT'S THE PROBLEM?

Midsize and larger businesses often find their IT topology has
become a complex mix of servers, networks and storage systems.
Many of these companies also route long-haul traffic over
fiber-based networks - metropolitan-area networks, WANs and
private optical networks. Who's responsible when a
storage-related problem occurs on a fiber network? For more,
click here:

<http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate7023>
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