Top Network Access Control

With so many employees working remotely, the importance of secure network access control (NAC) has never been higher. In this guide, we showcase the industry’s leading NAC solutions along with an overview of the network access control market and key features to look for in a NAC solution.

What is Network Access Control (NAC)

Network access control (NAC) helps enterprises implement policies for controlling device and user access to their networks. NAC can set policies based on resource, role, device, and location-based access and enforce security compliance with security and patch management policies, among other controls.

The goal is to bring order to the chaos of connections, whether they are internal or external. Those connections might be from in-house personnel, a remote workforce, customers, consultants, contractors, and guests. Each of these groups require access, although the kind of access varies from one person or group to another. Administrators require a different tier of control compared to lower-level workers, and groups such as guests or contractors are given limited access rights.

Minimum Capabilities

According to Gartner, the minimum capabilities of NAC solutions are:

Dedicated policy management to define and administer security configuration requirements and specify the access control actions for compliant and non-compliant endpoints
Ability to conduct a security state baseline for any endpoint attempting to connect and determine the suitable level of access
Access control, so you can block, quarantine, or grant varying degrees of access
The ability to manage guest access
A profiling engine to discover, identify, and monitor endpoints
Some method of easy integration with other security applications and components

One trend to watch is the rise of zero trust security products. These new access control tools restrict access to just the data and applications users need rather than granting them access to the entire network, reducing the risk of lateral movement within the network. The market is still new, but Gartner expects sales of these products to gain traction in 2021–22.

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