At Interop New York we announced the release of AEP NACpoint, the first in a suite of policy networking products we'll roll out over the next 12 months. We've offered policy networking at the edge with SSL VPNs, IPSec VPNs and identity gateway application access products for years. Now we're expanding our policy-based solutions for the core (LAN) to cover network admission control, identity management and centralized policy management.

To celebrate the NACpoint launch, we're dedicating this issue of AEP Networker to NAC (Network Admission Control). In this issue you'll find stories about NACpoint, a summary of NAC news from Interop, a link to Network Computing's recent NAC analysis, and an introduction to policy networking.

Enjoy!
Pat Donnellan, CEO

We’re pleased to announce that AEP Networks is now offering the AEP NACpoint for network admission control (NAC).

AEP NACpoint controls who and what gets access to networked resources based on the identity of users and machines. NACpoint is ideal for guest and partner access, wireless, and wired conference rooms because it assists in keeping malicious threats from entering the enterprise at wired and wireless local points of connection. It lets you get more control over unmanaged devices on your network.

Here's how it works. NACpoint protects networked resources against attack from unknown users and devices by:

• Authenticating users requesting LAN access,
• Performing a node posture validation scan of clients (validating that a machine is current on patches, anti-virus, spyware signatures, etc.), and
• Placing offending clients in quarantine and enabling remediation.

eWEEK's Cameron Studevant was hot on the heels of NAC news at Interop New York this fall.

In his eWEEK Labs' article, Studevant reports on new products for secure, authenticated, policy-controlled network access. After looking at AEP NACpoint and a solution from InfoExpress, he says it's time for IT managers to consider these new players "in addition to the 'big three' NAC solutions: Cisco Systems' NAC (Network Admission Control), Microsoft's NAP (Network Access Protection) and Trusted Computing Group's TNC (Trusted Network Connect)."

Policy networking is an approach to network security that ties network and application access to user identity and policy. Simply put, the policy server(s) uses ID to authorize who can access the network, and then tracks and controls files for that user. An ideal policy-based network:

• Defines trust and authority requirements for access to and use of network resources
• Requires a user to authenticate his identity in order to use the network
• Assesses the state of the user’s computer to ensure it meets software security policies
• Provides connectivity based on a user’s identity and system profile

Want to know more about AEP’s policy networking model? Read “Ensuring Security and Compliance through Policy-based Networking.”

Teleworking has become an everyday occurrence for many companies. Businesses use teleworking to maximize employee productivity because staff can work from home, from a conference center or while they’re on the road. For government, teleworking plays a role beyond worker output. During an emergency, remote access becomes the communications backbone for government and emergency personnel.

Our new whitepaper describes key technology elements that contribute to running a fail-safe teleworking system for government. Using real-world examples–such as a field hospital set-up outside New Orleans for victims of Hurricane Katrina–the paper touches on the technical requirements for implementing a disaster-ready remote access solution.