In today’s digitally driven world, businesses are becoming increasingly reliant on network connectivity to operate effectively. But with increased connectivity also comes increased risk exposure. Cyberattacks are on the rise, and more businesses are succumbing to security breaches, data loss, and other security-related issues. In fact, cybercrime damages are expected to reach $10.5 trillion by 2025. 

Your ability to protect your network from cyberattacks and unauthorized access while maintaining network performance and compliance with regulatory requirements is not a nice-to-have—it’s essential. With a Network Access Control (NAC) system in place, you can safeguard your network infrastructure and your data while maintaining business continuity.

5 Reasons to Implement a Network Access Control System

NAC is a security solution that restricts access to network resources based on users’ identities, roles, and devices. Today, more businesses are turning to NAC solutions, and here’s why:

1. Improve security: Cyberattacks are a significant threat to businesses of all sizes. Cyber hackers are always looking for new vulnerabilities that make it easy to install malware, access sensitive data, and disrupt business operations. By preventing unauthorized access to your network to protect sensitive data and prevent malicious attacks, network access control systems provide an added layer of security for greater peace of mind. NAC systems can also be used to enforce security policies that ensure only authorized users can access the network. Even if a cyber hacker gets through one layer of security, they will be faced with additional security measures that make it infinitely more difficult to launch an attack.
2. Comply with regulatory requirements: Many industries have strict data protection and privacy regulatory requirements—and failure to comply can result in lofty fines and a tarnished reputation. NAC systems enforce security policies that restrict access to the network based on predefined rules, ensuring only authorized users and devices can access the network. Plus, with the ability to deliver greater visibility and control over all devices that connect to the network, NAS makes it easy for you to monitor and manage the access of devices across the network—and automatically remove a non-compliant or malicious device. And with simpler auditing and reporting capabilities, NAS also simplifies auditing and reporting to support various regulations and standards.
3. Improve performance: Offering a secure and efficient network environment, NAC solutions can help businesses optimize network performance and productivity. As network traffic increases, its performance can take a hit, disrupting operations. By reducing the number of unauthorized devices that connect to the network and ensuring critical business traffic receives priority over non-critical traffic, NAC solutions help to reduce network congestion to boost performance. And with the ability to identify and address issues with connected devices before they create a problem, NAC also improves uptime.
4. Simplify network management: NAC solutions offer a centralized approach to network security, making it easy for administrators to easily control and monitor access to the network and enforce security policies. By automating the process of identifying and authenticating users and devices, NAC eliminates the need for manual configuration and management of network devices, which minimizes the risk of human error, reduces the workload on IT teams, and improves overall network security.
5. Boost productivity: NAC solutions ensure only authorized users can access the resources they need, which reduces the risk of data breaches and other security incidents that can lead to network downtime and lost productivity. By providing visibility into all devices that connect to the network, your IT team can quickly resolve issues and enforce security policies, which allows employees to work with confidence and without interruption.

By implementing an NAC system, your IT team can ensure the network is secure, reliable, and always available, while supporting regulatory compliance, network management, and network performance.

At Zunesis, we can help you protect your network infrastructure, safeguard sensitive data, and maintain business continuity with ClearPass from Aruba, a leading provider of NAC solutions that help businesses secure their network infrastructure while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Providing robust network access control with granular role-based policies for authentication, authorization, continuous monitoring and enforcement, Aruba ClearPass gives you anywhere, anytime connectivity while supporting simplified network security operations and enforcing security policies.