Network access control is an essential security tool for fortifying business networks against malware threats and unauthorized devices. It helps IT teams personalize permissions for each employee’s duties, workflow, and access requirements.
What Is Network Access Control?
It also keeps track of all connected devices and prevents them from gaining unauthorized access to sensitive information or infrastructure. Network controls examples may also include compatible security features like encryption and increased visibility.
Policy-Based Model
Network access control systems based on policies enable greater granularity in determining which users and devices have permission to do what, when, and where. This allows for developing a zero-trust security framework that can better control what incoming threats can do and quickly contain them.
The policy-based model also provides more flexibility, allowing admins to rapidly change policies that govern thousands of devices, even during high-stakes threats. This helps ensure that the security environment follows business objectives and is not compromised by rapidly evolving exploits.
In addition to role-based access control (RBAC), the policy-based model can be augmented with attribute-based access control (ABAC). ABAC uses attributes instead of roles to determine user access, enabling more specific and granular decisions. These could include anything from the name/title of a system user to the sensitivity level of data sets or an individual’s physical location. ABAC is supported by the XACML specification, which includes flexible predicates on resources and subjects. This makes it easier to manage ABAC than RBAC and other models with static rulesets.
Scalability
Network access control automatically tracks and protects users and devices at scale, even as the organization grows. As a result, it helps companies avoid expensive cyberattacks that would otherwise be unavoidable.
Without NAC, a device can enter a network simply by plugging into an Ethernet port or connecting to a wireless access point. Even if password protection is in place, this could allow malware into the network. NAC ensures that only devices authorized to enter the network can do so and verifies that these devices adhere to corporate security policies.
Using a client agent, NAC allows employees to self-assess their device’s security posture and bring vulnerabilities to IT attention. This helps organizations reduce risk and saves on costly support tickets.
As a result, NAC is the best choice for protecting connected devices from unauthorized users and malicious code. It also helps with BYOD and work-from-home policies that are common in many organizations. However, it’s important to remember that NAC doesn’t replace other security measures, such as data security.
Visibility
Network access control provides oversight of devices connected to the network, ensuring they comply with security policies. By monitoring device activity and taking action quickly against unauthorized or unusual behavior, NAC mitigates malware threats and other cyber attacks.
As organizations increasingly use BYOD and IoT devices, a secure network becomes a requirement for optimal business operations. By implementing a comprehensive network access control solution, you can ensure your employees’ devices aren’t introducing malicious software into your systems.
NAC solutions provide pre-admission access controls that evaluate a device’s risk posture before connecting to the network. By evaluating the device’s hardware and software, NAC ensures it will comply with network security policies upon admission.
Additionally, post-admission network access controls effectively limit lateral movement within the network and reduce cyber attack damage. For optimum protection, choose a solution that provides native integration with your unified endpoint management platform for cohesive visibility. It also helps to select a solution that supports the principle of least privilege, limiting users to what they need to perform their jobs.
Flexibility
A network access control solution will configure and apply permission systems based on endpoint characteristics, identity details, and business requirements. For example, a company may want to give guests and contractors different access levels than full-time employees and limit access to specific hardware components with vulnerabilities.
Bypassing access policies can lead to unauthorized activities or malware infections that can cause disruptions or exploit vulnerabilities. Network access controls can prevent these occurrences by ensuring that the devices, users, and software on every network connection follow its security standards.
To reduce the impact of a breach, consider an NAC solution that integrates with your existing zero-trust security strategy and unified endpoint management tools. This ensures that your security posture is reinforced without adding complexity to your existing infrastructure. It also makes it easier to implement policies across the network to limit lateral movement and restrict the escalation of threats as they occur. A reliable NAC solution should also offer a range of temporary solutions like sandboxing and quarantine virtual local area networks (VLANs) to help you continue business operations. At the same time, you address device or user problems.
Incident Response
When an incident occurs, a strong incident response model is vital. This includes having tried and tested processes for identifying attacks, quarantining devices without disrupting business, and flagging security controls that don’t perform as they should.
NAC solutions can automatically verify users and their endpoints’ security status as they connect to the network and grant access if all criteria are met. This approach reduces the time and effort required for administrators, allowing them to focus on proactively protecting the company’s critical assets.
Conclusion
Additionally, NAC systems can monitor endpoints continuously to ensure they follow policies and detect illegitimate activity. This can involve the system reducing or revoking privileges, isolating the device, and alerting the security team to any problems.
NAC solutions integrate with other security essentials like firewalls, anti-malware software, and user authentication tools to provide a complete, integrated solution for securing networks. Many also offer interoperability with existing enterprise infrastructure, minimizing the need for additional hardware and resources. Adding these extra capabilities can help organizations maximize the value of their network access control investments.
