The NAC Program is a program in which Cisco shares technology features with
program participants. Participants design and sell their client and server
applications as well as services that incorporate features that are compatible
with the NAC infrastructure.
Participants in the NAC Program can
integrate the Cisco interfaces into their applications, and test the
applications according to Network Admission Control specifications at a
Cisco-approved independent test facility. After entering into a NAC Program
Agreement and after successfully testing their applications, participants can
market their devices, applications, and services as Network Admission
Control-enabled.
All shipping NAC-enabled products and solutions, whether
from Cisco or other NAC Participants, are required to go thorough a testing and
validation process at an independent third party testing facility. They are
required to interact the same way with the Cisco Trust Agent and the Cisco
Secure ACS.
Cisco is currently working with the antivirus vendors,
Network Associates, Symantec, and Trend Micro through the NAC program, which
focuses on limiting damage from emerging security threats such as viruses and
worms. IBM has announced plans to integrate the Tivoli management suite into
NAC. Cisco is broadening NAC vendor participation through an integration
program, and expects to open elements of NAC to additional industry
organizations as it develops.
Cisco is licensing its Cisco Trust Agent
technology to NAC co-sponsors Antivirus products that include support for Cisco
Trust Agent include Network Associates' McAfee® VirusScan® Enterprise 8.0i
and McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 7.x, upcoming versions of Symantec Client
Security and Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition, and the Trend Micro
OfficeScan Corporate Edition v6.5.
The table in Figure
contains
examples of NAC enabled applications. Additional products and participants will
be available in the future.