NC Nov-Dec 2023

PRODUCT REVIEW
macmon NAC
PRODUCT REVIEW
PRODUCT
REVIEWPRODUCT RE
Despite the undeniable security benefits
many businesses find implementing a
network access control solution
challenging, as all too many are complex
and time consuming to install and difficult to
manage. The German company macmon
secure GmbH stands out from the crowd as
its NAC product is designed to be simple to
deploy and maintain while its smart agentless
architecture means it can be protecting your
network from day one. It doesn't require
agents or sensors as it queries all your
manageable switches and uses methods such
as SNMP, REST or Telnet/SSH to find out
which network devices and connected
endpoints are in the network.
The macmon NAC appliance also offers its
own embedded RADIUS server for
authentication to fully support the industry
standard 802.1X while making it much simpler
to adopt. The above mentioned protocols are
also being used to enforce NAC controls,
which is why it is not only compatible with
informational technology but can also secure
operational technology (OT) networks with all
their legacy systems.
This simple approach has major benefits
in the battle to control what macmon
classifies as UFOs (unidentified frightening
objects). These could be an intruder, an
employee's access point being used to build
their own Wi-Fi network, or something as
simple as a workstation.
macmon NAC can see all endpoints
regardless of whether they are a desktop PC, a
BYOD, a controlling unit of an industrial facility,
or the laptop of a service technician. This
network overview is extremely valuable for both
homogeneous and heterogeneous
infrastructures and large non-transparent
networks, which can often be found in the
manufacturing or the automotive industry.
Mobile user controls are particularly good as
macmon NAC can identify them irrespective of
which network switch or Wi-Fi device they
access, and uses whitelists to determine what
access levels they are allowed. Furthermore,
macmon NAC is manufacturer-agnostic, so it'll
work with any manageable switch, and can
scale easily as the network expands, allowing it
to work with the latest IT systems as well as
long-established operational technologies.
We found deployment swift as we installed
macmon NAC on our VMware vSphere host in
ten minutes. The web console is easy to use,
and our first task was to create a list of
credentials for our monitored switches where it
defaults to SNMP.
macmon NAC gathers information about all
network devices and endpoints and their
attributes such as MAC and IP addresses and
their names using (amongst others) ARP, DNS
and DHCP as well as OT specific protocols.
These may be added to a list of 'known'
endpoints in the console and assigned to
groups such as PCs, mobiles and guest
devices, which in the simple mode even
enforce up to three levels of authentication
and related authorisation.
Any new endpoints that macmon NAC
discovers are considered unauthorised and
policies are used to determine what access
levels they should have - if any. Predefined
rules make this even easier as they can block
these devices, dynamically manage VLAN
membership and present guest users with
custom captive web portals.
The macmon VLAN Manager is a powerful
instrument to roll out as it automatically
maintains a zoning concept in big production
facilities or other industrial contexts, which is a
requirement of many security regulations such
as IEC 62443 or even ISO 27001. The
Premium bundle enables full compliance
scans on endpoints and offers even more
integration options to gain additional status
from third-party tools.
macmon NAC is very amenable as it generally
integrates with a wide range of third-party
security solutions and even offers a framework
to simply add your own integrations. NC
Product: macmon NAC
Supplier: macmon secure GmbH
Tel: +49 30 23257777-0
Web site: www.macmon.eu
Sales: info@macmon.eu
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