Startup StillSecure Releases NAC Offering

With the mid-September unveiling of Safe Access 5.0, StillSecure is aiming to cut through the chaos that can sometimes complicate NAC deployments by adding a centralized management console and beefed-up scalability, said Mitchell Ashley, CTO at StillSecure, Superior, Colo.

"The emphasis is on taking NAC to the next level in terms of deploying it and making it manageable over an entire network," Ashley said.

The centralized management of Safe Access 5.0 extends to NAC solutions that employ different enforcement technologies, Ashley said. "If one part of your NAC solution uses 802.1x and another uses DHCP, and another part is deployed inline, these parts can all be managed through a central console," Ashley said. Previously, companies that wanted to implement 802.1x and DHCP on the same network could do so only through separate installations, Ashley added.

Chris Barnes, president of Resilient Intelligent Networks, a solution provider in Bartonville, Texas, said Safe Access 5.0 is more scalable than previous versions and includes a simplified management interface. "NAC is usually pretty complicated for customers, but Safe Access is an easy one to follow," he said.

Safe Access 5.0 offers the ability to cluster NAC enforcement servers and institute load balancing to increase scalability and reliability, Ashley said.

The addition of clustering helps to improve the overall scalability and security of the network, Barnes said. "When you implement endpoint integrity into the network, high availability is a must. You would hate to lose the NAC coverage because of a server problem," he said.

Safe Access 5.0's ability to accommodate multiple NAC enforcement methods is a key differentiator, Barnes said. "As an integrator, we're focused on the 802.1x side of the house. NAC without 802.1x isn't very exciting," he said.

Safe Access 5.0 will be available in mid-October and is priced starting at $40 per IP address.