NAC is critical for your business in monitoring your devices and users — both authorized and unauthorized — that might be trying to access the network. Having network access control will help you block out cybercriminals, hackers and data thieves.
If that’s not enough to convince you, here are some other reasons why NAC is important:
It secures user devices: Implementing a NAC solution will strengthen network security by denying network access to non-compliant user devices. With a lot of companies promoting remote work, it is more likely that employees will be logging in using unknown devices. NAC will ensure all their devices can connect securely, without compromising your network. In addition, the remediation and quarantine systems of a NAC provide a stable line of defense to keep non-compliant devices that can compromise your systems off of the network, offering extra protection.
Visibility: Cyber attackers focus on user devices and endpoints as vulnerable entry points. WIth a NAC solution in place, you will be able to have a detailed view of all devices connected to your networks, and you will also be able to see the security posture of each device. Having this extra visibility gives you the upper hand in managing potential network security risks, since it provides actionable insights.
Automated policy enforcement: A NAC solution is designed to automatically execute NAC policies, since they are built into your network infrastructure. The solution’s automation also reduces administrative overhead.
Access controls: A NAC is a good way to embed access control and endpoint security policies into your network infrastructure, which gives you an additional level of protection.
Drastically improve network performance: Another reason why NAC is important is because it can improve the performance of your network. It is not uncommon for companies that don’t have a NAC solution to add multiple SSIDs. While adding SSIDs may be a workaround, and can get the job done on a very basic level, having a NAC offers much more granularity. Using an SSID also takes up bandwidth, and every time you give out a different password for a different end-user on your network, you damage the performance. By implementing a NAC solution, you gain back bandwidth used by SSIDs.
Safeguard your data and other sensitive information: Having a NAC solution can prevent unauthorized access to company-sensitive data by employees. In this way, an employee that needs to access the corporate intranet won’t get access to sensitive customer data unless their role warrants it and they have been approved for that access.
Save money and time: Typically, most organizations try to tackle network security in pieces, by using a firewall and/or an antivirus solution in addition. However, the use of completely separate systems for managing access permissions can create mass disorganization and a lot of administration overhead. Implementing a NAC solution can benefit your company, saving you the money you would be spending on multiple solutions that can be accomplished by just using one, and it will save you time as well.
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NAC it's particularly important for access to resources in your organization.
Example: If the device is enrolled and compliant with your MDM solution, e.g. Microsoft Intune, the NAC solution should allow the device access to corporate resources. Users can be allowed or denied access when trying to access corporate Wi-Fi or VPN resources.
Feature behaviors: Devices that are actively synchronizing to Intune can't move from Compliant / Noncompliant to Not Synced (or Unknown). The Unknown state is reserved for newly enrolled devices that haven't been evaluated for compliance yet.
For devices that are blocked from access to resources, the blocking service should redirect all users to the management portal to determine why the device is blocked. If the users visit this page, their devices are synchronously reevaluated for compliance.
NAC and Conditional Access: NAC works with Conditional Access to provide access control decisions.
For all the mentioned before, NAC is very essential.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: February 2025.
Network Access Control (NAC) enhances security by managing device access to a network, ensuring compliance with policies. It identifies, authenticates, and authorizes devices, providing a secure network environment for organizations.Network Access Control (NAC) plays a crucial role in protecting networks by restricting unauthorized access and maintaining security compliance. It offers visibility into all connected devices, enabling administrators to enforce policies consistently. By detecting...
NAC is critical for your business in monitoring your devices and users — both authorized and unauthorized — that might be trying to access the network. Having network access control will help you block out cybercriminals, hackers and data thieves.
If that’s not enough to convince you, here are some other reasons why NAC is important:
It secures user devices: Implementing a NAC solution will strengthen network security by denying network access to non-compliant user devices. With a lot of companies promoting remote work, it is more likely that employees will be logging in using unknown devices. NAC will ensure all their devices can connect securely, without compromising your network. In addition, the remediation and quarantine systems of a NAC provide a stable line of defense to keep non-compliant devices that can compromise your systems off of the network, offering extra protection.
Visibility: Cyber attackers focus on user devices and endpoints as vulnerable entry points. WIth a NAC solution in place, you will be able to have a detailed view of all devices connected to your networks, and you will also be able to see the security posture of each device. Having this extra visibility gives you the upper hand in managing potential network security risks, since it provides actionable insights.
Automated policy enforcement: A NAC solution is designed to automatically execute NAC policies, since they are built into your network infrastructure. The solution’s automation also reduces administrative overhead.
Access controls: A NAC is a good way to embed access control and endpoint security policies into your network infrastructure, which gives you an additional level of protection.
Drastically improve network performance: Another reason why NAC is important is because it can improve the performance of your network. It is not uncommon for companies that don’t have a NAC solution to add multiple SSIDs. While adding SSIDs may be a workaround, and can get the job done on a very basic level, having a NAC offers much more granularity. Using an SSID also takes up bandwidth, and every time you give out a different password for a different end-user on your network, you damage the performance. By implementing a NAC solution, you gain back bandwidth used by SSIDs.
Safeguard your data and other sensitive information: Having a NAC solution can prevent unauthorized access to company-sensitive data by employees. In this way, an employee that needs to access the corporate intranet won’t get access to sensitive customer data unless their role warrants it and they have been approved for that access.
Save money and time: Typically, most organizations try to tackle network security in pieces, by using a firewall and/or an antivirus solution in addition. However, the use of completely separate systems for managing access permissions can create mass disorganization and a lot of administration overhead. Implementing a NAC solution can benefit your company, saving you the money you would be spending on multiple solutions that can be accomplished by just using one, and it will save you time as well.
NAC it's particularly important for access to resources in your organization.
Example: If the device is enrolled and compliant with your MDM solution, e.g. Microsoft Intune, the NAC solution should allow the device access to corporate resources. Users can be allowed or denied access when trying to access corporate Wi-Fi or VPN resources.
Feature behaviors: Devices that are actively synchronizing to Intune can't move from Compliant / Noncompliant to Not Synced (or Unknown). The Unknown state is reserved for newly enrolled devices that haven't been evaluated for compliance yet.
For devices that are blocked from access to resources, the blocking service should redirect all users to the management portal to determine why the device is blocked. If the users visit this page, their devices are synchronously reevaluated for compliance.
NAC and Conditional Access: NAC works with Conditional Access to provide access control decisions.
For all the mentioned before, NAC is very essential.