Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cybersecurity

    Standards and the State of NAC

    By
    Larry Seltzer
    -
    May 15, 2007
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Hows NAC working for you? Are you even implementing or planning for it?

      Depending on whom you talk to, youll hear that network access control is either dead or its being widely studied and implemented.

      The good news story says that compliance, SOX in particular, is the main force driving implementations. This makes sense to me from the point of view that compliance is, in part, about getting control of your systems. NAC helps you get that control, or at least to say that youre making an organized and good-faith effort to get that control.

      The counterarguments say, as reports such as a recent Forrester report did, that current NAC implementations are proving difficult and impractical. Joseph Tardo of Nevis Networks agrees with this point of view to a degree, saying that the key to NAC is the management of policy and that, to succeed, policy management has to be improved. It cant be the creation of a new island of policy.

      /zimages/3/28571.gifOf course bots exist on corporate networks, but how big a problem are they? It could be that nobody knows. Click here to read more.

      Theres also Jason Brooks viewpoint that NAC impedes the development and adoption of new technologies outside of the mainstream and cant give a level of confidence sufficient to generate the cost and work it entails.

      As to how successful NAC is in the real world, Ill welcome your reports. Unlike Jason, Im rooting for NAC and I dont see why it cant do good enough. His concern over support for new devices is a reasonable one, but if things develop well, a NAC agent could be a simple thing to implement, and mandatory for market acceptance as a device driver.

      Im thinking of standards development in the NAC space, and specifically the IETFs NEA (Network Endpoint Assessment) working group. The groups Overview and Requirements document states:

      … network operators need a proactive mechanism to assess the state of systems joining or present on the network to determine their status relative to network compliance policies. For example, if a system is determined to be out of compliance because it is lacking proper defensive mechanisms such as firewalls, anti-virus software or the absence of critical security patches, there needs to be a way to safely repair (remediate) the system so that it can be subsequently trusted to join and operate on the network. The NEA technology strives to provide a mechanism to report the configuration of an endpoint for evaluation against network compliance policy. Such a mechanism could offer a useful tool for the network operators arsenal but should be recognized as not being a complete endpoint compliance solution in and of itself.
      Sounds like every responsible marketing document for a NAC product.

      From the first time I heard about NAC, I realized that standards would be critical. Forcing customers to buy into one vendor whole hog was planning to fail. Effective NAC standards would allow anyone to implement NAC client agent software to work with any NAC back-end system. The vendors realize this and are happy to facilitate it, since the back ends are where all the money is.

      The chairs of the working group are from Juniper and Cisco. The Requirements document was written by representatives of Symantec, Intel, Avaya, Cisco and Nevis Networks. In the mailing list discussions I saw someone from IBM, Paul Hoffman of the VPN Consortium and a developer of an open-source project. I dont see anyone from Microsoft yet, but theres every reason to believe theyll support any standards that emerge, especially since theyve already worked for interoperability with Ciscos NAC, and Cisco seems enthusiastic about NEA.

      In the short term, theres no question that Jason is right that requiring an agent presents a barrier to entry for devices that are either unconventional or difficult to secure (for instance, Ive heard of companies that have eliminated wireless networks in part because of difficulties with NAC). In the longer term, I dont see why standards-compliant agents shouldnt be easy to write, almost template-driven.

      The hard part, as Tardo says, is developing policy for them. But responsible security management will develop policy for such devices anyway. NAC helps to implement it, not the other way around.

      Security Center Editor Larry Seltzer has worked in and written about the computer industry since 1983.

      /zimages/3/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest security news, reviews and analysis. And for insights on security coverage around the Web, take a look at eWEEK.com Security Center Editor Larry Seltzers blog Cheap Hack

      More from Larry Seltzer

      Larry Seltzer
      Larry Seltzer has been writing software for and English about computers ever since—,much to his own amazement—,he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1983.He was one of the authors of NPL and NPL-R, fourth-generation languages for microcomputers by the now-defunct DeskTop Software Corporation. (Larry is sad to find absolutely no hits on any of these +products on Google.) His work at Desktop Software included programming the UCSD p-System, a virtual machine-based operating system with portable binaries that pre-dated Java by more than 10 years.For several years, he wrote corporate software for Mathematica Policy Research (they're still in business!) and Chase Econometrics (not so lucky) before being forcibly thrown into the consulting market. He bummed around the Philadelphia consulting and contract-programming scenes for a year or two before taking a job at NSTL (National Software Testing Labs) developing product tests and managing contract testing for the computer industry, governments and publication.In 1991 Larry moved to Massachusetts to become Technical Director of PC Week Labs (now eWeek Labs). He moved within Ziff Davis to New York in 1994 to run testing at Windows Sources. In 1995, he became Technical Director for Internet product testing at PC Magazine and stayed there till 1998.Since then, he has been writing for numerous other publications, including Fortune Small Business, Windows 2000 Magazine (now Windows and .NET Magazine), ZDNet and Sam Whitmore's Media Survey.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×