Sophos scheduled to deliver NAC-compliant
products in mid-2005
Sophos, a world leader in protecting businesses against spam and
viruses, has announced that it has joined the Network Admission
Control (NAC)
program. This Cisco-led industry initiative uses network
infrastructure to help enforce security policy compliance on all
devices which attempt to access a company's network computing
resources, thereby limiting damage from viruses and other
threats.
By joining NAC, Sophos commits to integrate the Cisco Trust
Agent (CTA) into its industry-leading anti-virus solution, Sophos
Anti-Virus. Integration of the Cisco Trust Agent with the Sophos
anti-virus solution will further safeguard enterprise environments
by helping to ensure that only systems compliant with corporate
security policies can connect to the network. Helping to prevent
full network access for individual, non-compliant systems in this
way helps to significantly reduce the risk of critical computing
resources being compromised.
The NAC program supports the Cisco Self-Defending Network
strategy which aims to increase network intelligence in order to
identify, prevent and adapt to security threats automatically.
When NAC identifies non-compliant devices, it can deny access or
allow restricted access to the network. NAC helps organisations
verify that all endpoint devices, such as PCs, PDAs and servers,
are compliant with established security policies before they are
granted access to the enterprise network.
"The NAC program is significant for the industry because it will
help organisations develop networks which are resilient to a wide
range of damaging threats," said Richard Baldry, global head of
strategic alliances at Sophos. "Joining the NAC program underpins
endpoint security as a key aspect of Sophos's approach to network
security."
"Helping to protect customers' networks by helping to control
who and what can access their networks is fundamental to our
approach to security," said Russell Rice, director of product
marketing in the Security Technology Group at Cisco Systems.
"Sophos's involvement in the NAC effort further strengthens our
customers' protection against viruses and worms, and we greatly
value its participation in the program."
To help accelerate its involvement in the program, Sophos
recently participated in a Cisco-hosted NAC Developer Conference
which brought together more than 25 vendors representing
best-of-breed companies in the security market. As part of its
development effort, Sophos now hopes to deliver NAC compliant
products to market in mid-2005.
Customers interested in beta testing Sophos Anti-Virus solutions
with the Cisco Trust Agent should contact their local Sophos
reseller.
More information about the NAC effort can be found here.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.