 Network Access ControlNetwork World's Network Access Control Newsletter, 08/09/07Why people deploy NACBy Tim GreeneHere are some statistics from Infonetics about why people are deploying NAC that may help others feel more comfortable - or uncomfortable - about their own NAC plans. A survey of 83 large businesses that said they planned to deploy NAC within the next year asked them to indicate what factors influenced their decisions. They indicated many. Two factors tied for first place, each claiming 83% of respondents. One was protecting corporate resources from unauthorized users. That’s not a big surprise because enforcing access rights is part of what NAC is supposed to do.
In second place was limiting the impact of security problems. So if something does break out on the network, they expect NAC to deal with it. This seems to indicate they want the post-admission aspect of NAC that monitors behavior of devices once they have been granted admission to see whether behavior deviates from what is allowed and expected. Post-admission NAC can trigger alarms about or isolate devices that violate behavior policies. Close behind those two factors with 81% of respondents was increasing overall security posture of the network, and that’s not a very revealing stat. Demonstrating compliance with access and security policies was named by 64% of the respondents. This is basically logging who has accessed the network, when, what they were authorized to access, and whether their machine met security-posture requirements. It answers the question, “Did NAC do what it was supposed to do?” Protecting wireless networks was a factor chosen by 58% of those surveyed. Concerns about unauthorized users with wireless laptops trying to tap into business WLANs can be addressed by NAC. NAC can also facilitate granting limited access to guests on WLANs. Two other factors tied at 54% of respondents. The first is securely segmenting the LAN, which NAC can accomplish via the access rights it grants to machines that pass initial endpoint checks. The second is meeting regulatory requirements.This is always a controversial factor because many people say that deploying NAC doesn’t address any set of regulations about network security. True, but it can undeniably be useful as part of a broader security strategy that does address regulations. Just log data linking a person with a machine, when they logged into the network and what they were authorized to access can be valuable to regulatory audits. Editor's Note: Starting Aug. 14, this newsletter will be renamed "Security: Network Access Control" to better reflect the focus of the newsletter. We thank you for reading Network World newsletters!
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| Contact the author: Tim Greene is a senior editor at Network World, covering network access control, virtual private networking gear, remote access, WAN acceleration and aspects of VoIP technology. You can reach him at tgreene@nww.com. ARCHIVEArchive of the Network Access Control Newsletter. BONUS FEATUREIT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESTo subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007 |
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