Keeping guests corralled

Network Access Control This newsletter is sponsored by Cisco Learn best practices for extending your network architecture Access podcasts, whitepapers and more that offer best practices and principles for extending your architecture across a campus. Learn about the 6 design principles that will transform your campus net and how you can tackle the critical areas of integrated security, unified network services and more. Click here to read now! Network World's Network Access Control Newsletter, 06/05/07 Keeping guests corralled By Tim Greene In practice, the most common reason for using NAC has been to keep guest visitors corralled when they log in to corporate networks. These visitors range from people who have appointments onsite and who want to check their e-mails via laptop to consultants who are hired to perform vital business functions. The main thing these two groups have in common is they both use unmanaged machines, at least unmanaged by the host network. There is no trust between them and the network security staff, so access is restricted, often to nothing more than Internet access. The Security Standard - The Only Executive Summit Focused on the Business, Management and Strategic Aspects of Security September 10-11, 2007 | The Fairmont Hotel Chicago How do your security initiatives support company business goals? The answer to this question can make all the difference in gaining the corporate-wide support and resources you need to drive your security strategies. Uncover best practices and organizational strategies for achieving success by attending The Security Standard Conference. Click here for more details. Click here for more details The unmanaged-machine problem is also why NAC is popular on college campuses. Students represent the largest single group of users on most campuses and virtually none of them owns a machine managed by the college IT staff. NAC frees up short-staffed colleges at the start of semesters by automating basic scans of these computers for operating system patches and updated virus signatures and that seems enough for many schools. The alternative is a manual check of each student machine, a process that some colleges say took weeks at the start of each semester. According to NAC experts at the recent Interop Las Vegas show, though, a growing number of NAC users are looking to meet regulations imposed on them by the government or industry groups. They need to restrict access to key data and to prove that they did so In this case, businesses must prove that only legitimate users of data access it and that when they do they do so in accordance with set regulatory policies. NAC can help fill at least part of the bill by restricting authorization to key assets. But the biggest hurdle NAC vendors have to clear right now is making their gear work within existing networks without forcing major network upgrades, the experts say. Over time, as businesses upgrade their network infrastructure on their standard replacement schedules they will be more likely to buy NAC-compatible gear, which will help lift the problem. In the meantime, experts say, vendors need to work on compatibility with each other’s NAC equipment so when that day comes, customers will have choices.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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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. This newsletter is sponsored by Cisco Learn best practices for extending your network architecture Access podcasts, whitepapers and more that offer best practices and principles for extending your architecture across a campus. Learn about the 6 design principles that will transform your campus net and how you can tackle the critical areas of integrated security, unified network services and more. Click here to read now! ARCHIVE Archive of the Network Access Control Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT 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 You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: security.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