Independent research firm recognizes Microsoft NAP as a leader in Network Access Control

Microsoft’s Network Access Protection (NAP) solution was cited as a leader, the top category, in a recent independent report, “The Forrester Wave: Network Access Control, Q3 2008.” Forrester placed a lot of emphasis on different access control scenarios for the evaluation, and the different vendors were evaluated around 12 different scenarios as well as strengths across technology, strategy, and market presence.
“Microsoft has the strongest NAC product for managed endpoints,” the report stated. The report goes on to state that even though its official product has only been shipping since the inception of Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has already established itself as a critical thought leader and contributor to the standardizations of NAC. “Microsoft has the overall highest score among the 12 scenarios we evaluated.

Malware Inspection at the Perimeter

The new Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway Medium Business Edition (TMG MBE), available as part of Essential Business Server and as a standalone product, provides significant improvements for the Microsoft Firewall service operation. One of the most important features of this new firewall is the capability to inspect HTTP traffic that crosses it for malware. By using this new feature, you will be able to:
Improve your ability to protect your internal network against malware coming from the Internet.
Keep the perimeter updated with the latest malware signatures by using TMG Update Center.
Keep an eye on suspicious traffic via real-time monitoring of log entries and get post-mortem malware statistics using the new set of reports.

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