Wave Systems Corp. (fka WAVXQ)

[Fullmoon]

If You Build It, They Will Come...

http://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org/community/2009/04/if_you_build_it_they_will_come


by Matt Webster, Lumeta Corporation

Mike Fratto correctly highlights the need for vendors to listen to their customers, and provide standard-based access control technologies (CSI 2008: You Want Standards, You Have To Demand Them <http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/11/csi_2008_you_wa.html> ). Well, Mr. Fratto, the vendors have listened to you and our customers, and more standard-based products are now available.



There are numerous vendors with TNC standard-based products today, with many more planning for product release in the near future (weeks and months, not years). These companies include the traditional access control providers as well as vendors in security adjacencies who can offer valuable contributions to the realm of access control.


See, here's the really cool thing.... Through TNC, both the traditional and non-traditional access control vendors are "enabled". Products such as vulnerability management, visibility/mapping, network discovery, control systems, and others are easily enabled to take part in the access decision making process. Both pre and post access decisions have the ability to be made based any number of policy and/or compliance checks.


This multifaceted approach will allow customers to realize the power of access control without a multitude of changes or excessive up-front costs. As these standards are adopted and productized by more security vendors, customers will have the ability to "connect" the various security components and network equipment that they already have in place, easing the deployment and cost of access control. The standard-based "connections" between enforcement and decision points, ingesting information from sensors, compliance/policy monitors create an environment in which customers can feel confident they are not being saddled with a "single access control" solution.