Key Terms
- Network Access Procedure: The process of authentication and validation of your computer required for university network access.
- Authentication: The process of verifying your access to the network by confirming your username and password and associating it with your computer.
- Validation: The process of confirming that certain security measures are in place on your computer.
Q: What is Clean Access?
A: Clean access is a solution provided by Cisco, Inc. that performs network validation. The software performs the following functions:
- Require authentication to the network
- Validate whether the system connecting to the network meets the minimum security standards.
- Quarantines the system until it meets the minimum security standards.
- Provides access to the remediation sites.
- Once the system is validated as “clean,” allows access to the network.
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Q: What Networks Require Validation?
A: We are deploying the validation solution to
all resident hall networks in the summer semester 2005.
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Q: Why Are We Introducing this Solution Now?
A: Each semester, student machines are introduced to the campus that potentially contain harmful viruses and malware. On move-in weekend in particular, worms and viruses attempt to spread to unpatched/vulnerable machines.
The Computing Center has determined that the best way to prevent this from happening is to insure that virus software and Operating System critical update/patches are current and maintained.
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Q: How Does Validation Work?
A: This solution will redirect any Internet browser request to a web page that instructs the user to download and install the validation client known as the “Cisco Clean Access Agent”. Once launched, the client downloads the validation rules and processes them. If the workstation fails the test, it is allowed Internet access only to the remediation sites for a period of about
30 minutes. Once corrected, full network access is provided.
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Q: Where do the Cisco Clean Access Servers Fit in the Network?
A: There is a management server, known as “Clean Access Manager” which provides the administration of the Cisco Clean Access-protected network. The enforcement servers are known as “Clean Access Servers.” We are configuring a pair of Clean Access Servers for every
1500 network ports. The Clean Access Servers receive the validation instructions from the Clean Access Manager and download these to each client installed on workstations which connect to the network.
We have configured the Clean Access Servers as routers in the university network. Access to the network is controlled via access control lists on the router. Thus, unauthenticated access is limited to very few network addresses; once authenticated and validated, Cisco Clean Access modifies the access controls to allow full access to the network.
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Q: What is the Clean Access Agent?
A: Clean Access Agent is the client
application that can check certain security settings on any Microsoft
Windows PC to make sure that the system is up-to-date with required
security patches and report this status to the Clean Access Server.
No information about the user or the content of user files is sent to the server. Each user must use Clean Access Agent for his/her Microsoft Windows PC in order to authenticate and use the university network.
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Q: What Validation Checks are Being Performed?
A: For Summer and Fall semesters, we are configuring Cisco Clean Access to validate the following:
- Automatic Updates is enabled and set to either Download and prompt or Automatic install
- Check for a current release of McAfee
AntiVirus software and current virus definitions.
- Check for current Windows Critical Updates for
Windows Vista, XP, and 2000.
- Authenticate users on all other operating systems
via web browser.
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Q: How Long Do the Validation Checks Take?
A: In our pilots to date, the checks take between 15 and 30 seconds.
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Q: What is the Process for Changing the Minimum Security Requirements?
A: As new critical Microsoft updates become
available, the security requirements will be updated to reflect the
new patches. Typically, we will not immediately set the
validation check for the new patches, but allow some time (typically a
week) for people to update their systems in due course. If a
vulnerability is reported or the threat of a virus storm or worm
attack emerges, we will update the validation check immediately in
reaction to the threat. Please note that we may cancel all
network connections for a particular subnet in response to an attack.
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Q: How Often Will I Be Revalidated?
A: We plan to configure the validation timer for every 7 days. Initial plans are for early Monday mornings.
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Q: How Does Validation Work for Macintosh Users?
A: Currently Macintosh users must authenticate by logging in via a web page. At this point there is no client which is downloaded to Macintosh systems. The network connection timer is set for Macintosh systems; however, there is no icon that can be right-clicked to logout and subsequently login again.
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Q: How Does Validation Work for Linux Users?
A: Linux users must authenticate by logging in
via a web page. There is no client which is downloaded to Linux systems. The network connection timer is set for Linux systems; however, there is no icon that can be right-clicked to logout and subsequently login again.
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Q: What About Xboxes, PlayStations, etc.?
A: Please visit the
registration page to activate your game console.
Fill out the form completely including the
MAC Address of the console. Within two days, your console will be placed in the Gaming Role. The Gaming Role provides network access to console related services ONLY (i.e. if your register your PC for this role you won't have web, email or IM services).
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Q: What Remediation is Available?
A: Authentication Failure. If a user’s systems fails authentication, the user is instructed to provide the correct
LHU NT domain username and password.
If the user has forgotten
his/her password, he/she is instructed to set a new password via the
password reset tool by clicking on this link.
AntiVirus Failure. Lock Haven
University provides McAfee AntiVirus Corporate edition free to students. It is required that all PCs connected to the campus network be running AntiVirus software. If the user’s system fails the check for current AntiVirus
software, the user is provided a link to download for McAfee AntiVirus.
Microsoft Windows Patch Failure. If the user’s system fails the check for current critical Operating System patches, the user is instructed to click on the URL for the Microsoft Windows update site and follow the instructions.
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Q: What Happens If an “Infected” System Behaves Badly on the Network?
A: The validation solution can not prevent all infections. Also, we have experienced denial of service attacks originating from within the university network. For those subnets controlled by Clean Access Servers, the process will be to disconnect the offending system using the Clean Access Manager management console. Unless the system is demonstrating a vulnerability for which there is no patch, there should be no need to block the physical switch port, as the user will not be able to reconnect until the problem is corrected.
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