Independent Assessment of Forescout Counteract Reveals Unprecedented Detection Rate of 500 Devices Every 5 Seconds

ForeScout Technologies, Inc., the pioneer in agentless cybersecurity, announced that it enlisted Miercom, a leading independent testing firm and consultancy, to provide unbiased, hands-on testing of ForeScout CounterACT’s capabilities. Among other things, Miercom tested CounterACT’s agentless ability to quickly discover, classify and assess endpoints, including those that IT managers are typically unaware of, such as personal (BYOD) devices. In addition, they analysed CounterACT’s ability to apply network- and host-based controls to enforce security policy—essential requirements to secure a company’s assets.

Rob Greer, CMO & SVP Products, ForeScout

The results were impressive. The report’s main findings included:

• CounterACT discovered and classified 500 devices in less than 5 seconds.This is an unprecedented detection rate in the network access control (NAC) industry. To reduce their security attack surfaces, companies need continuous monitoring—not periodic monitoring. Devices are added all the time and the ability to see 500 devices every 5 seconds scales well.
• CounterACT promptly discovered and provided full visibility of 100 percent of endpoints in all network environments tested. This is not only about discovering every IP-addressable device, but also classifying each device without the need for agents.
• Posture assessment and compliance monitoring. CounterACT’s compliance assessment policies provided real-time information about endpoint security posture and state changes.
• No impact on endpoint or network performance. There was no appreciable CPU usage increase on endpoints during connection, while installing a dissolvable client, or when notified of non-compliance. Also, on a SPAN link, CounterACT observed network traffic passively, with little to no impact on network performance.
• Simplified control, automation and time savings. Setting up policies for hosts and the network is straightforward via CounterACT’s console and wizards. Endpoint policies are readily understood and easily modified. Instead of requiring IT staff to manually query endpoints and determine their individual policy compliance, CounterACT automates this process, saving time and resources by mitigating problems.

For a complete summary of Miercom’s test results, go tohttps://www.forescout.com/miercom-report/.

“Based on test results validating the efficacy of discovery, classification, assessment and control capabilities, and the ease of management and customisation, we proudly awarded the Miercom Performance Verified Certification to ForeScout CounterACT,” said Robert Smithers, CEO of Miercom.

“In order to minimise the security attack surface, organisations need to discover and classify managed and unmanaged devices the moment they connect to their network. What’s more, they must have the ability toautomatically apply appropriate security controls to enforce their security policy,” said Rob Greer, CMO & SVP of Products at ForeScout. Having an objective testauthority such as Miercom validate the agentless discovery and classification capabilities of our solution—being able to see and control devices on a continuous basis—is a great proof point for our customers.”

ForeScout Technologies, Inc., the pioneer in agentless cybersecurity, announced that it enlisted Miercom, a leading independent testing firm and consultancy, to provide unbiased, hands-on testing of ForeScout CounterACT’s capabilities. Among other things, Miercom tested CounterACT’s agentless ability to quickly discover, classify and assess endpoints, including those that IT managers are typically unaware of, such as personal (BYOD) devices. In addition, they analysed CounterACT’s ability to apply network- and host-based controls to enforce security policy—essential requirements to secure a company’s assets.

Rob Greer, CMO & SVP Products, ForeScout

The results were impressive. The report’s main findings included:

• CounterACT discovered and classified 500 devices in less than 5 seconds.This is an unprecedented detection rate in the network access control (NAC) industry. To reduce their security attack surfaces, companies need continuous monitoring—not periodic monitoring. Devices are added all the time and the ability to see 500 devices every 5 seconds scales well.
• CounterACT promptly discovered and provided full visibility of 100 percent of endpoints in all network environments tested. This is not only about discovering every IP-addressable device, but also classifying each device without the need for agents.
• Posture assessment and compliance monitoring. CounterACT’s compliance assessment policies provided real-time information about endpoint security posture and state changes.
• No impact on endpoint or network performance. There was no appreciable CPU usage increase on endpoints during connection, while installing a dissolvable client, or when notified of non-compliance. Also, on a SPAN link, CounterACT observed network traffic passively, with little to no impact on network performance.
• Simplified control, automation and time savings. Setting up policies for hosts and the network is straightforward via CounterACT’s console and wizards. Endpoint policies are readily understood and easily modified. Instead of requiring IT staff to manually query endpoints and determine their individual policy compliance, CounterACT automates this process, saving time and resources by mitigating problems.

For a complete summary of Miercom’s test results, go tohttps://www.forescout.com/miercom-report/.

“Based on test results validating the efficacy of discovery, classification, assessment and control capabilities, and the ease of management and customisation, we proudly awarded the Miercom Performance Verified Certification to ForeScout CounterACT,” said Robert Smithers, CEO of Miercom.

“In order to minimise the security attack surface, organisations need to discover and classify managed and unmanaged devices the moment they connect to their network. What’s more, they must have the ability toautomatically apply appropriate security controls to enforce their security policy,” said Rob Greer, CMO & SVP of Products at ForeScout. Having an objective testauthority such as Miercom validate the agentless discovery and classification capabilities of our solution—being able to see and control devices on a continuous basis—is a great proof point for our customers.”