Network Access Control (NAC)

Network Access Control (NAC)

Network Access Control solutions support network health monitoring and access control by enforcing policies to devices and users in corporate networks.

Why is it important to have a NAC solution?

Organizations today face an exponential increase in the number of mobile devices running on their networks and the associated risks. Therefore, it is imperative to have the tools to implement the auditing, access control, and compliance functions needed to strengthen your network security infrastructure.

The NAC system can block (authenticate) access to the network of inappropriate devices, quarantine them, or provide only limited access to computing resources, thus preventing unsafe hosts from infecting the network.

What are the main features of the NAC solution?

NAC solutions ensure that policies are enforced on organizations' access to their networks.

Policy lifecycle management: Policies are applied to all operating situations without the need for separate products or modules.

Profiling and Control: Recognizing and profiling users and devices before malicious code can do any harm.

Guest Network Access: Managed guests through a customizable management portal that implements registration, authentication, and guest sponsorship.

Security Monitoring: Compliance with security policies is evaluated based on user and device type and operating system.

Incident Response: Mitigate network threats by enforcing security policies that block, isolate, and repair non-compliant computers without administrator intervention.

Two-way integration: Integration with other security and networking solutions through open or REST-based APIs.

Zero-Day attacks are countered or reduced.

Examples of using network access control

NAC for guests: Contractors use NAC solutions to ensure that the network access rights of visitors or non-employees are different from those of employees.

NAC for Personal Devices (BYOD): The rapid growth of mobile devices has enabled employees to work remotely from their mobile devices. NAC for Personal Devices ensures that all employee devices accessing the network meet regulatory requirements.

NAC for the Internet of Things: The number of IoT devices in manufacturing, healthcare and other industries is growing exponentially. And each becomes another potential entry point into the network for hackers. NAC mitigates these risks from IoT devices by enforcing profiling and access policies for different device categories.

NAC for incident response: NAC solution providers can share contextual information (such as user IDs or device types) with third-party security components. They can respond to cybersecurity alerts by automatically enforcing security policies that isolate compromised endpoints.

NAC for medical devices: With more medical devices connected to the Internet, it becomes imperative to identify who accesses the unified network. NAC solutions help protect devices and healthcare data from threats, improve healthcare security, and strengthen protection against ransomware.

Network Access Control (NAC) controls access to the network regarding authorization of anyone who enters the system, both for users and devices. It needs smart switches to perform security control, server systems to manage policies, Policies to ensure secure communication. It does this in three different types: Agentless Network Access Control, Hardware-Based Network Access Control, Dynamic Network Access Control.