Trustwave acquires NAC vendor Mirage Networks
Managed security vendor Trustwave will add network access control (NAC) technology to its suite of solutions with its acquisition of Mirage Networks, the company announced Tuesday.Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This acquisition will add NAC technology -- which is commonly used to prevent devices that could introduce malware or viruses from entering a network -- to Trustwave's portfolio of managed security services, which also includes unified threat management, intrusion prevention and detection, e-mail, network monitoring, vulnerability scanning and log monitoring.
Mirage Networks' NAC technology performs a risk assessment on all endpoints and ensures that, “uninvited, infected, and out-of-policy endpoints” are not allowed to access a network, according to the company's website. The technology also includes identity-based access control, endpoint compliance checks, threat detection and mitigation and policy enforcement.
Greg Stock, president and chief executive officer of Mirage Networks, told SCMagazineUS.com Tuesday that customers were asking for NAC technology that is plugged into a managed-service offering.
“There's more technology for security than ever before and fewer resources to manage it,” Stock said. “Managed security is the best way to deliver not just NAC, but other security functions.”
NAC is well-suited for managed services because it involves many parts of the IT operation, Stock said.
He said he and many others believe NAC eventually will become folded into the security infrastructure.
Stock said the acquisition is a “terrific fit” for both companies, and that he will now be running the managed security division of Trustwave's business.
Mike Rothman, founder of security consultancy Security Incite told SCMagazineUS.com Tuesday that pure-play NAC vendors have had a difficult time competing against larger companies such as Cisco, Juniper and Symantec.
Rothman said there are still a lot of independent players in the space -- some will fold, others will be acquired by other companies, and there will be some that survive -- but not many.
“This is another indication that there are going to be very few if any NAC providers, and this is the erosion and consolidation that happens when a market never fully develops,” he said.
