Network Admission Control (NAC)
NAC vendor participation

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.


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