Bradford Networks (News - Alert) has launched the version 4.0 of its comprehensive network access control (NAC) solutions that feature a wide-ranging set of new functionality to increase security and enhance automation.

 

Version 4.0 delivers expanded assessment options, increased operational flexibility, and more powerful systems management tools. The company is also adding fully redundant and high-performance appliances to its product line to meet the demands of larger and more complex environments, such as expanding wireless networks.

 

The company explains that the new version of Bradford’s Campus Manager and NAC Director adds a persistent agent for Mac OS X to its broad family of persistent and dissolvable agents. Additionally the version also expands agent scanning and ongoing monitoring capabilities to include detecting process activity, file presence/status, and wireless drivers with known vulnerabilities. Leveraging these powerful assessment functions IT personnel can efficiently address computers running prohibited or unlicensed applications while also searching for specific files.

 

Version 4.0 integrates with leading patch management platforms, such as BigFix allowing the automatic detection of the patch status of each computer on the network and automatic isolation of non-compliant machines for mitigation.

 

John Pescatore, vice president, Gartner (News - Alert) Inc said that network access control is a critical security process for the long term and enabling secure guest access and accelerating vulnerability mitigation are key NAC functions that show near-term return on investment. Pescatore believes that enterprises should focus on deploying NAC solutions that can quickly demonstrate immediate support for current business demands while providing a scalable platform for full-scale NAC in the future.

 

Bradford points out that with this release they are paving the way for its NAC solutions in wireless environments by supporting additional wireless devices and capabilities, such Cisco’s (News - Alert) Catalyst 3750 with integrated wireless controller and Aruba Networks’s EAP offload feature.

 

“During the summer we added wireless access to 18 residence halls and therefore saw a huge increase in wireless usage. Campus Manager handled this expansion and our fall rush was the smoothest ever,” said Ryan Laus, Associate Network Manager, Central Michigan University, after testing Bradford’s new high performance platform.

 

As the new platform for Campus Manager and NAC Director features dual-processor appliances and optimized RADIUS software capabilities, they double the maximum number of end users supported. According to Bradford, the boosts in speed and power also address increased authentication demands from the exploding number of wireless networks deployed across industries like education and healthcare. The company is also adding appliances with RAID 10 support and hot-swap, dual-power supplies for organizations wanting greater hardware-level redundancy.

 

“Organizations are looking to NAC to perform specific functions that provide a direct return on their technology investments,” said Mike Gadoury, Bradford Networks founder and CEO in a statement.

 

Gadoury continued: “As we are seeing in education and healthcare, the explosion of wireless networks is driving the adoption of NAC. Bradford’s new release gives these organizations the tools to solve today’s pressing access security issues.”