14 DAY TRIAL // Cisco announced advancements to its Network Admission Control (NAC) framework that helps protect organizations from threats such as spyware, viruses and worms attempting to gain network access through a growing number of endpoint devices.
The Cisco NAC framework now includes support for Cisco Catalyst switch and wireless solutions, the expansion of the NAC partner program to include a new agentless auditing category, and enhancements to the NAC appliance family (formerly known as the Cisco Clean Access family). These advancements expand upon the Cisco Self-Defending Network security strategy that helps customers better identify, prevent and adapt to an ever-changing landscape of security threats.
In addition to wide area network (WAN) environments, customers now have tools to help identify non-compliant systems before they get access to LAN and wireless network environments, trigger and perform a security posture or "health" assessment, and quarantine non-compliant systems for remediation. This information is collected and shared between NAC framework components through a new version of the Cisco Trust Agent (CTA) version 2.0, a key endpoint technology in the NAC framework. By extending the NAC framework to the Catalyst switching portfolio and wireless solutions, customers now have a new resource to block threats before they have a chance to enter the local area network (LAN) and potentially infect other enterprise resources.
The company is also announcing a new release of Cisco's family of turnkey NAC appliances, which can scan, block, quarantine and remediate non-compliant devices and enforce security policy. This new version offers a hardware appliance option in addition to the currently available software option for more deployment flexibility.
NAC framework support on the Cisco Catalyst 6500, 4500, 4900, 3700, 3500 and 2900 series switching platforms is scheduled to be available at the end of November 2005 as a part of a software upgrade and at no additional charge to customers with the corresponding product support contracts.
NAC framework support on the Cisco wireless platforms including Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Wireless LAN Services Module (WLSM), Cisco Aironet access points, Cisco Aironet lightweight access points and Cisco Wireless LAN Controller platforms are available today as part of Cisco IOS Software Release 1.4.1, Cisco IOS Software Release 12.3(7)JA or Cisco Unified Wireless Network Software Release 3.1 at no additional charge to customers with corresponding product support contracts.
The Cisco NAC appliance is scheduled to be available at the end of November 2005 starting at US$8995.
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