Aruba Supports Microsoft Network Access Protection to Secure Network Infrastructure

Aruba Networks (Aruba), a leading innovator of enterprise mobility systems, has announced that it is working with Microsoft to support its Network Access Protection technology.

The integration of Microsoft's Network Access Protection technology into Aruba's enterprise mobility systems gives enterprises the ability to create and enforce security policies that follow each user while ensuring the integrity of different devices connected to the network. With Network Access Protection Technologies, Aruba provides enterprises unprecedented security for their infrastructure that includes locking the air, locking the wire, encrypting the data and creating and enforcing security policies for each user or user group.

"Customers are concerned about securely managing the myriad of mobile users and devices now accessing the network," said Steve Anderson, Senior Director in the Windows Server Division at Microsoft. "Working with leading mobility companies such as Aruba, Microsoft is delivering to enterprises comprehensive solutions for providing end-to-end mobile security."

Network Access Protection, a policy enforcement technology that is being built into Microsoft's Windows server operating system, provides a way for enterprises to ensure that clients accessing the network comply with pre-defined security policies. Microsoft's Network Access Protection gives enterprises a unified security framework that encompasses a broad range of network devices and security software.

Support for Microsoft's Network Access Protection technology further enriches Aruba's industry-leading mobility and security solutions. Aruba remains the only provider of multi-layered security that protects the wired and wireless network, the data, the users, and now the end devices.

With Network Access Protection technology and Aruba's Mobility system, information technology (IT) professionals can use set policies that restrict network access until devices, wired and wireless, prove compliance with specific policies.

Unlike other WLAN systems, Aruba's products are user-aware, allowing corporations to tie stateful security policies to users as they authenticate, then having those policies follow them as they move. With Aruba's system, corporations can now create advanced and sophisticated networks and introduce new security measures that were once impossible to achieve with traditional networking components. IT departments, in turn, can implement a true "defense-in-depth" security framework that seamlessly overlays any existing IP data network.

"Wireless technology and user mobility have placed fundamentally new demands on enterprise networks," said Keerti Melkote, co-founder and vice president of Product Management for Aruba.

"Users can now access corporate networks from almost anywhere using almost any type of device. Companies must validate that users are who they say they are and ensure that their devices won't cause harm to the network. Microsoft's Network Access Protection technology and Aruba's wireless LAN system combine to form a powerful solution to these problems," concluded Melkote.