Norwegian Local Government Deploys Juniper Networks for Unified Access Control

Business Wire, Sept 25, 2006

Open Standards Solution Enables Fredrikstad Kommune to Control Network Access, Prevent Threats, and Ensure Compliance

SUNNYVALE, Calif -- Juniper Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:JNPR) today announced that Fredrikstad Kommune, a municipal authority in Norway, has selected the Juniper Networks Unified Access Control (UAC) solution to provide ubiquitous network access for some users while restricting access to others. The Juniper Networks UAC solution was also selected to maintain high levels of data security throughout the network and ensure compliance with stringent data protection laws.

A thin-client application strategy is deployed across the majority of Fredrikstad Kommune's employees, but there are also a significant number of employees using non-standard applications to process confidential health service and social security data. The organization is bound by strict data protection regulations, which requires Fredrikstad Kommune to secure LAN-based network access for these key users and ensure data integrity is not compromised. To solve this challenge, the organization deployed the Juniper Networks Infranet Controller and Agent to enable granular endpoint and identity-based controls, and Juniper Networks firewall/virtual private network (FW/VPN) appliances to act as enforcement points for policy decisions while also maintaining protection against the latest worms, viruses and trojans.

"For our non-standard application users to be productive, we had to allow them access to the network from different sites. To allow this while remaining fully compliant and secure, we needed to deploy effective per-user authentication and security policies within the local area network and beyond, as well as providing protection from viruses, hackers, and other threats," said Tor Ulf Nilsson, IT Advisor for Fredrikstad Kommune. "As a local government authority we have a limited budget, so we couldn't just rip out our existing infrastructure and re-build everything to meet these objectives. The Juniper Networks solution is an open-standards solution that provides high-levels of visibility and control across the network and enables us to leverage our existing equipment."

The Infranet Controller appliances are configured based on Fredrikstad Kommune's security policies, which include using unique passwords, enabling per-user access rights to databases, controlling network resources and application use, and ensuring anti-virus and personal firewall software is up-to-date. When each user logs onto the network, the Infranet Controller automatically provisions a lightweight software agent to the PC to authenticate the user and assess the device's security status. In the context of that Infranet Controller's policies, the user's requested levels of network resource access are granted or denied (access can also be revoked during a session because the agent is dynamic). User access rights are then enforced by the Juniper Networks firewalls protecting each network segment, based on instructions signaled from the Infranet Controller.

Prior to deploying UAC, Fredrikstad Kommune was already an established user of the market-leading Juniper Networks Secure Access SSL VPN solution. This enables users to have secure remote access to network resources when working from home or other locations beyond the network's perimeter. Juniper's SSL VPN technology provides the blueprint for aspects of its UAC solution, including dynamic agent-based user authentication and endpoint checking. By combining Juniper's UAC and Secure Access solutions, Fredrikstad Kommune is able to secure both LAN-based network access and remote network access in an efficient, cost-effective and easy-to-manage way.

"Enterprise networks now need to tie together the user's identity, the 'health' of the endpoint device and security policy, regardless of user location," said Gert-Jan Schenk, vice president of EMEA operations for Juniper Networks. "Juniper's Unified Access Control solution provides a uniform enforcement of security policy based on all these factors, realizing the network's full potential for legitimate users while denying access to compromised, un-authorized or illegitimate users."

Juniper Networks Unified Access Control Solution

The Juniper Networks Unified Access Control solution, based on the Enterprise Infranet framework, uses a combination of identity-based policy and endpoint intelligence to give enterprises real-time visibility and policy control throughout the network. As a result, enterprises can control access, prevent threats, ensure compliance, and deliver secure and assured network services. The Infranet Controller appliance leverages the policy and control engine from Juniper's award-winning Secure Access SSL VPN and the security and performance from Juniper's firewall/VPN platform. The Infranet Controller makes role-based policy decisions as well as seamlessly provisions the Infranet Agent, a software agent that assesses the endpoint's compliance state both before and during the session, and enforces policy on the client host. These policy decisions are enforced on the Juniper Networks firewall/VPN appliances, and are designed to allow communication with the Infranet Controller and perform computationally intensive security functions without compromising throughput.