ForeScout Technologies, a leading provider of pervasive network security solutions for Global 2000 enterprises and government organisations, has announced that the Institute for the Analysis of IT components (IAIT) has completed a thorough examination of CounterACT 7 and awarded ForeScout an “IAIT Tested and Recommended” rating. ForeScout CounterACT 7 is a next-generation network access control (NAC) solution that enables companies to continuously monitor and mitigate security exposures and cyberthreats. The lab’s test bench verified vendor claims of ease of administration and time to deployment, extensiveness of functionality and interoperability and overall security management value.

To see the extensive test in German and English, visit: http://www.forescout.com/IAITreview.

Beyond the conventional NAC capabilities of network device authentication, guest registration and policy-based network enforcement, CounterACT delivers dynamic asset intelligence to help IT organisations discover, classify and monitor network devices, users and applications; find and mitigate rogue, vulnerable and non-compliant devices; and efficiently remediate endpoint integrity issues, such as those posed by inactive, outdated or non-existent host-based security systems, unpatched systems and unwanted software. Furthermore, CounterACT interoperates with a broad range of network and security solutions including popular endpoint protection, vulnerability assessment, patching and mobile device management (MDM) systems.

IAIT, an independent testing laboratory based in Germany, examined CounterACT under great scrutiny with a practical test that integrated the appliance into a corporate network; engaged discovery and monitoring services; designed policies for classification, rogue detection and blocking, guest and mobile device management, and endpoint compliance and remediation; and conducted third-party system integration. The analysis concluded that “CounterACT has shown excellent functionality and intuitive operator guidance in our tests. The solution offers very powerful policies, which can be used efficiently for full protection and proactive safeguarding of all services and components in company networks.  Everyone working in IT dealing with security in one way or form should at least take a look at this product.”

The review cited CounterACT 7’s captive portal and guest management functionality and fast, simple and secure integration of external systems, including Microsoft Windows System Server Update Service (WSUS) and System Centre Configuration Manager (SCCM), McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator and Tenable Nessus. Other test result highlights include:

• Real-time asset monitoring provided clear intelligence, simplified the management of all components and created the basis for correct system handling by CounterACT
• Since it does not require an agent in the system to be secured, it can be smoothly integrated into existing networks
• CounterACT offers wide-ranging endpoint compliance functionalities…provides extensive templates for defining policies and actions, including a great number of functions, which can be linked meaningfully
• Defining policies with the help of the policy manager and the templates proved to be rather simple and convenient. By combining several criteria, complex policies can be created
• CounterACT plug-ins for seamless interoperability with third-party solutions also proved very useful, as they enable administrators to create a central point for security management in their environment

“CounterACT is a flexible, proven and scalable network security platform that allows companies to gain dynamic visibility, extensive control and automated remediation,” said Gil Friedrich, vice president of technology at ForeScout. “IAIT findings serve to validate our capabilities and illustrate how IT organisations can apply our platform to advance to a continuous monitoring and mitigation state.”