Mobile NAC

Clarifying issues surrounding this emerging security architecture

Fiberlink has added features to its existing remote-access security service to create an offering it says supports NAC for mobile users.

Called Mobile NAC, the service includes existing features of its Extend 360 platform, such as quarantining devices that flunk security policy checks as well as remediating those that fail.

Extend 360 is a client-server platform. The client, which monitors the host machine whenever it is turned on regardless of whether it is connected to the Internet, reports in to the server.

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Fiberlink has added features to its existing remote-access security service to create an offering it says supports NAC for mobile users.

Called Mobile NAC, the service includes existing features of its Extend 360 platform, such as quarantining devices that flunk security policy checks as well as remediating those that fail.

Extend 360 is a client-server platform. The client, which monitors the host machine whenever it is turned on regardless of whether it is connected to the Internet, reports in to the server.

Depending on what it reports and what policies are in place, the server can require the remote machine to update software, turn on applications that might be turned off and restrict what IP addresses the machine can reach.

Mobile NAC includes the ability to restrict use of USB devices to remove data from mobile devices, helping to protect data.

The key difference between Mobile NAC and conventional NAC schemes is that the software does its endpoint scanning continuously, whether or not the device is attempting to connect with the corporate network.

This means that when it does connect, the scan and any remediation that might need to be done is already completed.

Like any endpoint checking scheme, Mobile NAC doesn’t address the possibility that the device could still be infected, despite being properly configured to comply with security policies.

But it does offer the same assurances mainstream NAC endpoint checking does, which is that it reduces the likelihood that the device will do harm once allowed onto the corporate network.

Read more about security in Network World's Security section.

Tim Greene is senior editor at Network World.