Forescout Technologies on the Forefront of NAC Disruption, States The 451 Group
Strong Customer References and Business Ready Technology Cited as Reasons for Leadership Position
Cupertino, Calif. – Jan 29, 2008 –Forescout Technologies, a leading provider of clientless network access control (NAC) for Fortune 500 enterprises and government organizations, today announced that The 451 Group has praised CounterACT for its robust feature set, including its ability to do identity-based access control and pre- and post-admission access control, as well as its scalability in its 2008 Enterprise Security report (December 17, 2007).
Citing compliance as the pressing reason customers are implementing NAC four years after the technology first began being touted as the “next big thing,” The 451 Group took a close look at the market leaders, including Forescout. Analysts who authored the report (Nick Selby, Paul Roberts, and Andreas Schneider) noted compliance “is also driving a renewed interest in another trend we see emerging in 2008: the interest in what some are calling identity-based access control (IBAC) or role-based access control (RBAC).” Forescout falls into this important category by leveraging existing identity stores, such as Microsoft Active Directory.
According to the report, Forescout also stands out because of its existing investments in intrusion-prevention system (IPS) technology and ability to offer pre- and post-admission access control.
The 451 Group did extensive research, talking with end users from a full spectrum of enterprise verticals. The analysts also checked company references to verify the scope and validity of noted deployments. The report references an impressive Forescout deployment, citing, “We’ve spoken with a tough customer who’s deployed 20,000 users and is coming back for more — Forescout scales as it says it does.”
“Forescout is one of a small cadre of firms that are making lemonade out of the lemon that is Cisco’s Network Admission Control (CNAC) program, by building on its traditional strength in IPS to do pre- and post-admission access control. Post-admission screening is a must-have for many enterprises, who want the ability to spot compromised hosts on their network, in addition to making sure users, guests and contractors adhere to security policies,” adds research director Nick Selby in The 451 Group report “Network Access Control: 2008 is a Do or Die Year.”
“The 451 Group hits the nail on the head with this 2008 enterprise security outlook. They call out many of the business challenges which our customers have turned to Forescout’s CounterACT to solve with our NAC platform,” said Gord Boyce, president of Forescout Technologies. “It’s great to be recognized in a comprehensive report such as this. This will indeed be an interesting year for NAC — we are committed to maintaining and increasing our leadership position in 2008 and beyond.”
About CounterACT
CounterACT is an out-of-band, clientless network access control appliance that delivers business-ready NAC by providing the ability to detect every device, interrogate the device for policy compliance, enforce network security policies and remediate non-compliant systems. This is accomplished without any form of network disruption. CounterACT provides complete pre- and post- connect access control policy enforcement ensuring devices remain fully compliant with network security policies. In addition, CounterACT’s built-in intrusion prevention module ensures the network is always protected from malicious threats no matter where or how a device connects.
About The 451 Group
The 451 Group is an independent technology industry analyst company focused on the business of enterprise IT innovation. The company’s analysts provide critical and timely insight into the market and competitive dynamics of innovation in emerging technology segments. Clients of the company — at vendor, investor, service-provider and end-user organizations — rely on 451 insight to support both strategic and tactical decision-making for competitive advantage.
About Forescout Technologies, Inc.
Forescout is the leading provider of access control and compliance solutions. With top-tier customers from every vertical, Forescout has perfected the art of providing strong access control without disrupting network operations or needlessly punishing end users. Forescout’s flagship product, CounterACT, protects over 500 of the world’s most secure enterprises and military installations with global deployments spanning 37 countries. The CounterACT family of products provides a path to complete security policy enforcement and is fast and easy for administrators to deploy, manage and maintain. For more about the company and its products, visit www.forescout.com.
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