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Network Access Control (NAC) Products Based on Trusted Network Connect (TNC) Open Architecture Prove Interoperability

Posted on: Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 12:00 CDT

Networking industry companies with products supporting the Trusted Network Connect (TNC) specifications from the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) for network security and endpoint integrity today announced results of interoperability testing hosted by the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL). This is the second such session TCG has hosted for the approximately 70 TNC work group member companies.

Colubris, Enterasys, Fujitsu, ProCurve Networking by HP, Juniper Networks, libtnc (an open source TNC implementation), PatchLink, Q1 Labs, Symantec, Trapeze Networks, and Wave Systems participated in the two-day event held last month. Vendors tested hardware and software supporting the TNC specifications in a simulated enterprise environment. The vendors successfully demonstrated complete interoperability across two TNC interfaces:

The integrity measurement verification (IF-IMV) and integrity measurement collector (IF-IMC) interfaces, which allow TNC clients and servers to load and use plug-in software components from different vendors, enabling easy integration of software from many vendors into a complete TNC implementation.

The policy enforcement point interface (IF-PEP), which enables network hardware from any vendor to serve as a policy enforcement point in a TNC system.

Explained Steve Hanna, co-chair of the TCG TNC work group and distinguished engineer at Juniper Networks, "The testing session at the UNH's efficient and well-equipped Interoperability Laboratory demonstrated that multiple implementations of the TNC specifications from vendors work easily together. The session also showed how network access control can be implemented using products from a variety of companies. As a result, the IT community has assurance that it can mix and match a variety of products supporting TNC."

TNC is an open, non-proprietary architecture and set of specifications, available free of charge to any interested party, that enables the application and enforcement of security requirements for endpoints connecting to the corporate network. The TNC architecture helps IT organizations enforce corporate configuration requirements and to prevent and detect malware outbreaks, as well as the resulting security breaches and downtime in multi-vendor networks. More information on TNC is at https://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org.

About TCG

TCG is an industry standards body formed to develop, define, and promote open standards for trusted computing and security technologies, including hardware building blocks and software interfaces, across multiple platforms, peripherals, and devices. TCG specifications are designed to enable more secure computing environments without compromising functional integrity with the primary goal of helping users to protect their information assets from compromise due to external software attack and physical theft. More information and the organization's specifications are available at www.trustedcomputinggroup.org.

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Source: Business Wire

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