ForeScout NAC Provides Key Security Functionality

Almost all organizations are dealing with the influx of personal tablets, smartphones and laptops that employees bring to work and connect to the network (BYOD = bring your own device). This combined with the mobility of your workers means that you've got to work twice as hard to maintain control over the devices in your IT environment.

Gartner, Inc. indicates that "The BYOD phenomenon is driving growth in the NAC market as organizations seek to apply policies specific to personally owned mobile devices. Vendors that can easily identify and enforce policies on non-Windows endpoints are positioned for success." As a result of their research, they've positioned the ForeScout NAC product as a Leader in their 2011 Magic Quadrant for Network Access Control, based on their completeness of vision and ability to execute.

Interestingly, Gartner identifies three phases to NAC adoption:

• 2003 - 2006: First wave - policies for endpoint configuration.
• 2007: Second wave - creating a guest network for unmanaged devices
• 2011: Third wave - provisioning a "limited access zone" for personal devices and guest access.

While many NAC manufacturers have limited development on their technology, ForeScout has stayed the course, and now offers a comprehensive solution including:

• CounterAct for Network Access Control
• CounterAct Mobile Security
• CounterAct for Endpoint Compliance
• CounterAct Edge for Threat Protection
• CounterAct as physical or virtual appliances
• NAC-as-a-Service

According to Richard Stiennon, Contributor to Forbes.com,

"…ForeScout has continued to evolve over the years and now their primary offering is a Network Access Control product that can address the introduction of new devices into the enterprise, a major trend as employees purchase iPads, Android devices, and iPhones. ForeScout can fingerprint and identify those devices, and …allow the system administrator to determine what kind of access the employee can get."

( Link to article)

Interested? For more information on how Conexsys can help you implement ForeScout's Network Access Control solution, email us at info@conexsys.net and we'll get right back to you. Or register for our upcoming Lunch & Learn events discussing ForeScout's NAC. For immediate assistance, call us at 1- (888) 509-8452 (in Toronto, call 905-286-3700)