 Security: Network Access ControlNetwork World's Security: Network Access Control Newsletter, 11/08/07Gaming NACBy Tim GreeneA lot of colleges use NAC to check that student machines meet the college security profile before they are allowed on the network, but the student machines were laptops, not gaming consoles.Now one university is using NAC to control student use of gaming devices, not out of a concern about security, but to make registering the devices simpler. Wright State University estimates it has hundreds of gaming devices, and in order for them to get on the netowork - something the school is OK with - they needed students to register them so they could be white listed from their Mirage Networks NAC appliance.
The school had been forcing students to come in and register the MAC addresses of their games, and that was time consuming for the IT department and the students, says Larry Fox, the director of networks for the school. Either that or they had to plug the consoles into their laptops and plug their laptops into the network, but that was challenging. "It was a pain for them if they didn't know what to do," Fox says. With online registration of the devices, the school has made it simpler for students to plug their games in, but with software written for it by Mirage, it can better track that the white listed devices aren't being spoofed by other machines, Fox says. The Mirage NAC gear detects traffic specific to PlayStation, Tivo, Xbox and Wii gear. If a device admitted to the network as a gaming console starts spewing traffic other than what is specific to a PlayStation, Tivo, Xbox or Wii, it can be shut off, Fox says. The NAC gear was bought primarily to make sure laptops have patched operating systems as well as antivirus and antispam software, but it has found other uses. The Network World IT Buyer's Guides provide comprehensive, detailed information on how to select, test, buy and deploy thousands of network and IT products. The new Network World IT Buyer's Guides offer even more features than before, here's just one that's worth checking out: Network Access Control Editor's note: Starting Tuesday, Nov, 20, this newsletter will be renamed "Security: Network Access Control Alert." Subscribers to the HTML version of this newsletter will notice some enhancements that will provide you with access to more resources relevant to IT security. You will still receive Tim Greene's analysis of this market, which you will be able to read in its entirety online at NetworkWorld.com, along with links to relevant news headlines of the day. We hope you enjoy the enhancements and 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 Security: Network Access Control Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE90% of IT Managers are leaving their company at risk for a DNS ATTACK. Get the tools and resources you need to keep your DNS healthy and secure. Run a DNSreport on your domain today - 56 critical tests run in 8 seconds. Visit www.dnsreport.com to learn more. (apply coupon NWW2007NLA for a 25% membership discount) 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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