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Read the complete text of the following posts on the Secure Access Central blog. Return to the portal home page.
Cisco NAC on the Run?
The media has been a bit rough on the Cisco NAC product portfolio lately.
So what does this string of unfavorable Cisco NAC coverage mean for the security professional considering a NAC solution?
Need a $6000 NAC Marketing Makeover?
Current Analysis has just announced the availability of its 2007 NAC report, joining Infonetics and Network Computing in presenting their own survey data and insights into NAC market requirements and customer perceptions. If your a NAC vendor with strong knowledge of your customers and a firm grip on your product strategies and marketing messages your head will not be turned by yet another market study and you would rarely, if ever, spend $6000 for a 60+ page Power Point presentation...
NAC Product Reviews:
Is There A Better Way?
Web literate security professionals have dramatically changed the way they educate themselves and are now highly suspect of "broadcast" communications especially of product reviews and evaluations.
It is time for online publications like Network World to view their readers input/feedback as an essential part of their "content" and to make their product evaluation services more interactive. Encourage reviewers, vendors and your readers to exchange their knowledge, experiences and opinions, and subject your tests and findings AND their ideas and behavior to the harsh realities of the marketplace.
NAC Product Spotlights:
Lockdown Networks Enforcer
& Array Networks SPX UAC
In product spotlights we review the security features, functions and architectures of individual products AND encourage readers to discuss them. My objectives? To identify (1) the situations where each product is well-suited and (2) highlight important issues and trade-offs an organization should consider when weighing the use of a product or similar ones.
Upcoming Network Computing
NAC Product Tests: So What?
Now some good news (possibly). Network Computing (NC) has announced plans to publish "rolling NAC product reviews" based on their comprehensive testing of NAC products. So why is this important (maybe)? Because NC has a relatively good reputation for evaluating technical network requirements and products. Does this naturally extend to NAC? Maybe. Maybe not. The jury (us) is still awaiting evidence and expert testimony.
Network World
Tests NAC: So What?
In its review, "NAC alternatives hit the mark", Network World judges 13 NAC products tested in the Clear Choice Test lab.
So the fundamental question is how valuable could this report be for anyone seriously considering NAC security or planning to evaluate specific products? After two readings, I have feel NW itself "missed the mark" as there is little useful information here one could hang a hat on.
Mine (NAC) Is Bigger Than Yours:
Nevis Networks vs StillSecure
While emotion-laden online sparring between vendors can be worth reading simply as entertainment often these exchanges DO contain either some small truth or nugget of knowledge worth further consideration. Why? Because these can lead you to new questions and answers, i.e., on-going, self-propelled learning.
NAC is not secure enough says expert
This article is a sterling example of the kinds of vendor statements (and media reporting) that reinforces the confusion surrounding NAC (see earlier post,"Which NAC Are You Talking About?" ). Kurt Roemer, the chief security strategist for Citrix, says "NAC is essentially about management of network connectivity, a series of go, no go decisions based on whether someone should get access to a network or not, depending on factors such as their location, if they are accessing from a managed or unmanaged device, or their clearance level in a company."
A Pragmatic Way to Classify NAC Products
In this post I introduce a practical NAC model and illustrate how specific products fit into it. In future posts I will closely examine individual products and discuss their different architectural approaches.
Which NAC Are You Talking About?
NAC is THE answer! NAC is going nowhere! These polar views are the gist of much of what is being said and written today by vendors, media and industry analysts in the network security marketplace. Moreover, the latter view often seems to be winning - at least the shouting match. So which outlook is likely too prove correct?
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