Today, the Internet is a vast network of connections: people to people, people to Things, and Things to Things. This results in a complex melting pot of security and network management challenges because of the convergence of so many tools, technologies, and platforms. How successful are you in managing your network security in the new world of multi-cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT)? If you are struggling to keep up with the technology changes of today, how prepared will you be for the changes of tomorrow? Gartner says the IoT-installed base will grow to 25 billion units by 2021. For many organizations, this represents a technological tsunami. Without running an agile solution with automated intelligence, IT administrators are often not even aware of what those ”Things” are, what they are doing, who is using them, and how they are being used on the network. It is also difficult to share contextual data between other security assets on your network, as well as refine the data to be more meaningful to your business stakeholders.
Genians next-gen NAC offers IT network operators and Managed Service Providers a rich, full-featured NAC framework to handle the challenges caused by evolving networks and various access demands. At the heart of its many features and capabilities are two absolutely essential functionalities at which Genians’ solution excels: first, it provides truly comprehensive visibility into an organization’s network and all its IP-enabled devices; and second, it employs a range of techniques to deliver full, customized control of who is accessing their network, when, and how.
Genians leverages multiple techniques for managing network access control, from employing highly effective ARP-focused strategies at Layer 2 to TCP resets and inline enforcers at Layer 3 to its built-in 802.1x RADIUS and DHCP server functions as well using SNMP switchport shutdown and Agent-based endpoint security controls. This way, we can connect people to people, people to Things, and Things to Things, ensuring safety without sacrificing performance. We can thus balance both network security and business productivity needs to succeed in the World of IoT.
We’ll begin in Part I with an explanation of how Genians uses network sensors to detect issues arising from ARP-related activity, such as ARP Spoofing or ARP Poisoning, to control network access. We’ll then move on to a consideration of how NAC works together with 802.1x to manage network activity, before finishing with a consideration of the value inherent in Genians’ Agent-based protection model.