theartofservice

Network Access Control products are another craze for IT departments. The purpose of these new products are to manage access to the network. However, to do so some considerations need to be taken.

First, NAC is policy driven. Each policy has two parts: conditions and actions. Conditions are specific information used to determine the appropriate access and actions allowable on the network. The configuration of the computer and user information are examples of conditions that may be found within a policy.

Actions use conditions to determine the appropriate control of a system. In typical binary fashion, policies have two actions for the conditions covered: accept or denial. For instance, if the configuration matches the minimal acceptance level for the network, the computer is allowed access to the network; if not, the computer can be redirected to a update site or given limited access, usually Internet only.

The purpose of the NAC is to secure the network from attacks. Working in conjunction with common anti-virus, intrusion, and authentication applications, NACs work at the network edge to identify if the computer linking to the network is compatible. Similar to ensuring inoculation before going to foreign counties, the NAC will survey a computer for the right configuration and if it doesn’t exist, recommend the appropriate update. If the user declines the recommendation, they are given restricted access to the network.

So say you were able to access the full functionality of the network yesterday, but today, you seem limited: consider that a security patch was not installed and your NAC is compensating. Just install the patch. The problem is that dozens of patches may be required at any given time. Gone a week? When you come back, connecting to the network may take a few minutes ensuring that all the updates are installed so you can connect.

For the system administrators, the NAC requires management of a number of policies; providing direction for every possible situation that may occur when a computer connects to the network.

NACs are not a bad tool: they are quite useful. They simply are a small product with a big mission.