Auconet BICS: NAC Product Overview and Insight

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Company Description

Auconet was founded in 1998 as a systems integrator helping Global 1000 enterprises to monitor, manage and maintain large IT networks. It launched its BICS (Business Infrastructure Control Solution) platform in 2005, targeting heterogeneous, large-scale IT networks. In 2008, Auconet extended BICS to monitor and manage industrial supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) networks. The company is self-funded.

Product Description

Auconet BICS provides NAC as well as network monitoring, asset management, and other functions. It performs 100% discovery, without agents, encompassing both new and legacy equipment of all makes and models, and delivers centralized monitoring and control. Both MAC Layer 2 and 802.1x security policies are enforced automatically. It can discover, monitor, and control ATMs, POS systems, and industrial control systems linked via SCADA. All functions are multi-tenant capable.?

“According to Gartner, the average enterprise is unable to detect 15% of its devices and ports,” said Ives Brant, Business Development, Auconet. “We offer the ability to detect, recognize, monitor, and control 100% of the devices in the network, and the links between them, in real time.”?

Agents

Auconet’s discovery and NAC does not require agents. However, an agent can be deployed to endpoints to capture more detailed information.

Markets and Use Cases

Auconet is well-established in transportation, financial services and retailing, but is said to have an advantage in manufacturing, utilities and energy because it can discover, monitor and control Industrial Control Systems (ICS) with the same platform and functions that it delivers for IT networks. In Germany, more than half of all savings banks meet governmental requirements for NAC protection via BICS (all branches, ATMs, devices and endpoints). The company also plays well in difficult situations such as 200,000 endpoints and 20 different makes of switches, plus 40,000 railway ticket machines on one network, multiple networks under one roof, or an industrial SCADA network alongside the IT network.

Applicable Metrics

Implementations at BASF and Deutsche Bahn identified approximately 60,000 endpoints per hour, as well as all the network devices and links and ports that those endpoints interact with. Its largest current implementation is over 500,000 ports.

Security Qualifications

It has been approved by the German banking regulatory authorities and fulfills the compliance requirements for NAC for savings banks in Germany.

Intelligence

Automation is provided via policies defined by the administrator, such as access to the network, assignment to particular VLANs, or other security-related actions. This automation applies, without operator intervention, across a large number of brands and models of equipment.

Delivery

Auconet BICS is available as an on-premises appliance, a virtual on-premises solution, cloud-based IT Operations Management that includes NAC, or a multi-tenant implementation.

Pricing

The pricing structure varies according to network architecture, network scale, the type of NAC needed, and the range of functions the customer opts for.