Network access control is a way to secure networks from both unauthorized users and malicious behavior by authorized ones. It helps enforce the principle of least privilege and ensures that employees are not unknowingly spreading viruses.
NAC solutions help mitigate advanced zero-day threats, segment production, and guest traffic, simplify provisioning for devices like printers or VoIP phones, and more. But they also provide significant visibility into network traffic, which is valuable during all phases of incident response.
Detects Malware
With more and more devices connecting to corporate networks, the threat surface increases exponentially. If a device hasn’t been updated with critical security patches or is infected with malware, allowing it onto the network poses a significant threat to the organization. NAC solutions can help reduce this risk by scanning devices for vulnerabilities and enforcing access policies that ensure they are up-to-date and compliant with business security before connecting.
- Advertisement -
One of the advantages of network access control can also be configured to detect and isolate devices that have been infected by malware. This allows them to remove the malware from the network and stop it from spreading. They can also prevent guests or contractors from connecting to the network until their device has been scanned and found clean.
Most NAC solutions work in one of two ways: pre-admission or post-admission. With pre-admission designs, a user or device will first attempt to connect to the network and then have their access approved if it meets business security policies, such as the anti-virus protection level, the operating system update status, and firewall configuration.
Prevents Authentication Attacks
Like door locks and security badges keep unauthorized individuals from entering organizational and physical assets, network access control prevents malicious actors from connecting to networks and stealing information or attacking the organization. Its use of policies and profiling ensures that only devices and users approved by IT can communicate while limiting access based on specific roles and the devices themselves.
Many NAC solutions also allow administrators to change policies on-the-fly, which can be critical during an incident response as they can isolate a compromised device before it spreads an attack to other parts of the organization. This can dramatically reduce and contain a threat’s impact while allowing essential employees to continue working without the risk of losing important data or impacting their productivity by an extended downtime.
Despite the many benefits of NAC, it’s important to remember that it’s not a “set it and forget” technology. A solid complement to network access control is a data protection solution that can help secure sensitive information and limit who has access to it. Many can help organizations maximize their NAC investment by combining it with a robust data protection platform that offers advanced features for identifying, classifying, and protecting critical information.
Detects Unauthorized Access
As more employees work from home and take advantage of Bring Your Device (BYOD) policies, security systems must ensure they can control the devices connecting to their networks. This area is where network access control (NAC) comes in, allowing businesses to keep unauthorized users and appliances from the corporate network.
With NAC, the user and their endpoint devices must authenticate themselves before being granted access to the network. Then, a business can inspect the device’s posture and enforce policies to ensure it is healthy and compliant. If it isn’t, the endpoint may be blocked or quarantined.
NAC solutions also support the principle of least privilege by limiting employee access to only the data they need to do their jobs. This prevents the infamous Target breach by ensuring an employee doesn’t have access to third-party vendors’ internal data, for example. Moreover, NAC tools can change policy on-the-fly to limit threats and contain any attacks in progress. This defense-in-depth approach enables businesses to minimize financial losses caused by ransomware and other cyberattacks.
Prevents Viruses
Network access control protects against viruses by assessing devices before they gain access to the organization’s network. The first step of this process is pre-admission, which occurs when a device or user starts a request to connect to the network. During this stage, the system assesses the proposal and only allows it if the device complies with network security policies.
The pre-admission system also performs a health check on each device, which evaluates the anti-virus protection status and other criteria to determine its risk level. This can prevent devices from connecting to the network if they are infected with malware or viruses, preventing those same devices from spreading these threats throughout the corporate network.
The ability to monitor and quarantine infected devices helps reduce the impact of cyberattacks that exploit unpatched vulnerabilities. This is especially useful during high-stakes moments, such as when ransomware takes hold, as these threats are more likely to spread if a single infected device remains connected to the network.
Prevents Data Leakage
Because network access control limits users and devices that can join a private network, it reduces the chance of data leakage. However, it is essential to ensure that your solution can prevent threats once they’ve entered the system. NAC can help by integrating post-admission monitoring, a critical capability to combat advanced cyberattacks and malware assaults.
This feature lets you monitor unmanaged devices, such as Internet of Things hardware, and identify and block unauthorized devices from entering the network. It can also automatically quarantine non-compliant devices until they are fixed, thus helping to eliminate the need for manual remediation and reduce costs.
Many modern companies work with contractors, guests, and remote workers. This flexibility allows employees to be more productive but can create security challenges for a company’s infrastructure. NAC helps organizations address these issues by allowing them to securely connect BYOD devices and remote employees without risking the integrity of sensitive data. This is especially useful during high-stakes moments like a ransomware attack, when isolating unpatched machines as quickly as possible is essential.
