Setting Up Network Access Quarantine Control

Securing your organization's network is fundamentally simple: Secure the perimeter to limit incoming threats and keep internal systems patched to protect them from those threats that do get through. So diligent patching, virus scanning, and strong passwords should eliminate security incidents on your network—right?

In reality, network security isn't that simple. Although you might be able to protect your internal systems, defending the extended network is more difficult. Users working from their home machines and mobile users connecting while on the road blur the line between internal and external systems. Although you can't control these external systems, Microsoft has included a technology in Windows Server 2003 that will help you prevent noncompliant systems from connecting to your network. This technology, Network Access Quarantine Control, quarantines remote VPN connections until the VPN clients prove compliance with network policy. Let's look at how Network Access Quarantine Control works and how to configure and run the server-side and client-side components. . . .